The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently decided that the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) rule requiring drone registration was invalid. See Taylor v. Huerta, 856 F.3d 1089 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (court noted that FAA lacked statutory authority to issue a rule requiring owners of small unmanned aircraft operated for recreational purposes to register with it). However, the court also ruled that a petition for review of the FAA advisory circular prohibiting the operation of model aircraft in various restricted areas was untimely.

If you have previously registered your drone you can request your registration be deleted and a refund of your $5.00 registration fee here.

It should be noted that to receive the expungement of your drone registration and a refund you must certify:

1) Your drone is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use;
2) Your drone is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization;
3) Your drone does not weigh more than 55 pounds unless it is otherwise certified through a design, construction, inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered by a community-based organization;
4) Your drone is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and
5) When your drone is flown within 5 miles of an airport, that you provide the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport) with prior notice of the operation.