US to require recreational drones to be registered

WASHINGTON: Owners of recreational drones in the United States will soon have to register them with authorities, the government said Monday, as the popular devices are increasingly seen as a hazard in the skies.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Michael Huerta told a joint news conference they were setting up a task force to move ahead with the plans.

"We do intend to move very quickly," Foxx said.

"It is my hope that the task force will complete its recommendations in the middle part of November, with the goal of having some rules in place by the middle part of December."

"This year pilots have reported seeing unmanned aircraft twice as frequently as they did in 2014," he told reporters in explaining the decision.

The risk of collision with aircraft is a key concern, but the proliferation of drones has also raised fears over security and privacy.

Earlier this month, a man was fined for flying a small drone over Washington´s National Mall and landing it near the White House, thought to be the third such incident this year.

Firefighters combatting wildfires in California this summer urged people to stop flying drones to film the blazes, saying they were getting in the way of their helicopters and planes.

A drone also crashed into empty seats in a stadium at the US Open tennis tournament in New York in September.