Bill Would Require Drone Operators to Acknowledge Safety Rules Before Their First Flight

A New Step for Drone Safety

A bill moving through the U.S. House would change how first-time drone operators receive safety information. H.R. 10304, the Drone Safety Statement Modernization Act of 2026, was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on September 15 by voice vote. The proposal would require manufacturers of small drones to present a safety statement when the system is first activated and to obtain the operator's electronic confirmation that they have read and understood each part. The FAA would be responsible for writing and updating the statement, which would cover relevant rules, temporary flight restrictions, airspace boundaries, and approved methods for checking whether a flight is legal.

Updating an Older Mandate

The bill builds on a requirement from the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016. That law already obliges manufacturers to include a safety statement with a delivered drone, but it does not require the first operator to confirm reading it. The new measure would shift both when the information is delivered and what the operator must do, replacing the 2016 provision with an updated one. It does not say that the acknowledgment would take the place of the existing TRUST test for recreational flyers.

Why It Is Being Considered

The proposal follows a World Cup during which more than 700 unauthorized drones were seized in restricted airspace, according to the FAA, which had established nearly 250 temporary flight restrictions. That number illustrates the scale of the problem, though it does not explain why individual operators flew where they did. The acknowledgment requirement alone would not confirm that an operator understands a changing restriction or checks airspace before every flight.

What Happens Next

H.R. 10304 is not yet law. After committee approval, it would go to the full House; if passed there, the Senate would need to consider it before it could reach the president. Within 120 days of enactment, the FAA would have to publish an example safety statement, though manufacturers could use an alternative that meets the requirements.