Government Flying Service (Hong Kong)

Government Flying Service
Agency overview
Formed	1993
Preceding agency	Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF)
Jurisdiction	Hong Kong
Headquarters	Hong Kong International Airport
Employees	225
Agency executive	MCP Chan, Controller
Website
Government Flying Service official website

The Government Flying Service (GFS) is a disciplined unit of the Government of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 April 1993, when Hong Kong was under British rule. It then took over all the non-military operations of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF), which was an auxiliary unit of the United Kingdom Royal Air Force. After Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1997, the GFS remains as a government unit of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and is responsible for search and rescue (SAR), air ambulance, firefighting and police operations.

The service operates from the southwestern end of Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. Before the opening of the Chek Lap Kok airport in 1998, it operated from the old Kai Tak Airport (i.e. the former Hong Kong International Airport). GFS patrols a 400-nautical-mile (740 km) radius of Hong Kong's Maritime Search and Rescue Region, as well as the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR), which covers most of the South China Sea basin.

In 2007, the former dispersal in the old Kai Tak Airport was re-opened as a sub-base, providing refueling and other supporting services for GFS's helicopters. The helipad is located near the foot of Cheung Ying Street.

Government Flying Service (Hong Kong)
Traditional Chinese	政府飛行服務隊
Simplified Chinese	政府飞行服务队
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin zhèngfǔ fēixíng fúwùduì Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping zing3 fu2 fei1 haang4 fuk6 mou6 deoi6

Operations

A GFS Super Puma landing on the deck of the USS Mobile Bay, April 2006

GFS is broken down to operational sections:

• Operations Section - day-to-day core functions (i.e. Search and Rescue)
• Training and Standards Section - professional standards and development
• Engineering Section - maintenance of GFS equipment
• Quality Section - compliance to operational standards
• Administration Section - administration, human resources, finance, supplies, etc...

Helicopters can land on 5 highways in Hong Kong to attend to road related recovery operations. For long-range search and rescue operations, the GFS initially uses fixed wing aircraft which then guides helicopters to the location.

• Air ambulance service response time (type A+/A) - 20miutes (within island zone) / 30minutes (outside island zone)
• Search and rescue callout time 0700-2159 -(within 50nm/92.5km of GFS HQ) - 1hr / 1hr 40m (with additional/speicalise equipment)
• Search and rescue callout time 2200-0659 -(within 50nm/92.5km of GFS HQ) - 2hr
• For SARs outside 50nm / 92.5km - add 30mins per 50nm
• Fixed Winged Aircraft 0700-2159 - (within 50nm/92.5km of GFS)- 50m, (between 50nm/92.5km to 100nm/185km of GFS)- 1hr 5m, (beyond 100nm/185km of GFS)- add 15m per 50nm.

Fleet

Hong Kong Government Flying Service Eurocopter AS-332L2 Super Puma MkII

Hong Kong Government Flying Service Eurocopter AS-332L2 putting out a hill fire with a belly mounted water tank

The fleet currently comprises:

Builder	Model	Type	Number	Dates	Details
British Aerospace United Kingdom	Jetstream 41	search and rescue/maritime surveillance aircraft (converted regional jet)	2 (B-HRS and B-HRT)	1999?-	Long range/offshore SAR missions, aerial survey and surveillance
Eurocopter Germany / France	AS 332L2 Super Puma	inshore/offshore search and rescue helicopter (medium lift utility helicopter); aerial fire fighting apparatus	3 (B-HRL, B-HRM and B-HRN)	2002-	replaced the Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk
Eurocopter Germany / France	EC 155 B1	aeromedical services, inshore search and rescue, VIP and government personnel transfer (medium utility transport helicopter	4 (B-HRU, B-HRV, B-HRW, B-HRY)	2002-	A fifth one, B-HRX, crashed at Pak Kung Au during a mission in 2003.
Moravan Czech Republic	ZLIN Z242L	fixed wing trainer	1 (B-HRA)	2009	succeeded the role of the Slingsby Aviation T-67M-200 Firefly

Paint scheme for Jetstream and Super Puma is white and Safety orange, two tone grey for the EC 155 and some of the Super Puma to support police operations (tactical troops transport).

GFS ordered two Bombardier Challenger 605 in October 2011. (likely to replace Jetstream 41)

Retired fleet

The fleet has previously included:

Builder	Model	Type	Number	Dates	Details
Beechcraft United States	Super King Air	maritime surveillance aircraft; VIP aircraft (converted turboprop airliner)	2	1993–1999	from RHKAAF; replaced by BAe Jetstream 41
Sikorsky Aircraft United States	S-70A Black Hawk	medium lift utility helicopters	3 (B-HZJ, B-HZI, and B-HZK)	1993–2002	from RHKAAF; used for search and rescue and by the Hong Kong Police Force; replaced by Super Puma AS332 L2; S-70 sold back to the United States
Sikorsky Aircraft United States	S-76 Spirit	medium utility helicopter	6	1993–2002	from RHKAAF; used by the Government of Hong Kong and VIP service; replaced by EC 155 B1
Slingsby Aviation United Kingdom	T-67M-200 Firefly	fixed wing trainer	4	1993–1996	from RHKAAF

Prior to 2002, the fleet colours consisted of:

• white and Safety orange
• blue, white and red - mostly the S-76 and were the colours of the RHKAAF and similar to the scheme used by the Her Majesty's Coastguard
• night black and sea grey - mostly the S-70A

Equipment and Gear

GFS pilots and crew are unarmed, as the services is a non-military agency. Standard equipment for GFS personnel is:

• Flight suit or jumpsuit
• Special Operations Vests (SOVs) - consists of a small oxygen tank (3 minutes of oxygen), life jacket, small suvival/first aid kit.
• Helicopter helmet
• Walkie-talkie
• gloves

As the GFS is not a police or para-military unit, they are unarmed. Armed officers of the Hong Kong Police Force fly with the GFS on occasion.

Personnel

GFS employs 238 personnel:

• 178 commissioned/disciplined personnel
• 60 civilian personnel

Most of the pilots in the GFS were localised prior to the handover in 1997, as former RAF and other British military personnel departed Hong Kong.

The GFS is led by a controller, who reports to the Secretary for Security. The current controller is Captain Michael CP Chan.

Other senior officers of the GFS are:

• Departmental Secretary
• Chief Pilot (Operations)
• Chief Pilot (Training and Standards)
• Chief Aircraft Engineer
• Flight Operations Manager
• Manager (Quality Assurance)
• Manager (Quality & Flight Safety)
• Manager (Aircrewman Officer)

Rank

Prior to the creation of the GFS, the ranks within the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force were the same as the RAF. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the transition to local staff in the RHKAAF in preparation for the civil transfer to the GFS role. For details and insignia of the ranking, see http://www.gfs.gov.hk/eng/insignia.htm

Ranking of personnel of the GFS are civilian aviation roles and are as follows:

• 1 Bauhinia and 1 Laurel Wreath with Crossed Feather
  • Controller
• 1 Bauhinia and 2 Pips
  • Chief Pilot
  • Chief Aircraft Engineer
• 1 Bauhinia and 1 Pip
  • Senior Pilot
  • Senior Aircraft Engineer
  • Senior Aircrewman Officer
• 1 Bauhinia
  • Pilot I
  • Aircraft Engineer
  • Aircrewman Officer I
• 3 Pips
  • Pilot I
  • Aircraft Engineer
  • Aircrewman Officer I
• 2 Pips and 1 Bar
  • Pilot II
  • Aircraft Engineer
  • Aircrewman Officer II
  • Chief Aircraft Technician
• 2 Pips
  • Pilot II
  • Chief Aircraft Technician
  • Senior Aircraft Technician
  • Aircrewman Officer III
• 1 Pip
  • Cadet Pilot
  • Senior Aircraft Technician
  • Aircraft Technician
  • Aircrewman Officer III

Pilot II and Cadet Pilot ranks were created in the 1990s for local pilots with less flying experience.

Controllers

List of past controllers of the GFS:

• Captain Brian Cluer
• Captain Brian Butt

Crest

Badge of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force.

The current crest of the force was adopted in 1997, prior to which the Hong Kong Coat of Arms was used on GFS aircraft:

• Bauhinia
• Crest with a Chinese dragon, propeller (borrowed from the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force crest) and wording GFS
• Motto contain the wording "政府飛行服務隊" with a pair of wings provides a bilingual logo to the agency that was lacking in the previous agency

GFS in the media

• The service's official theme song, Wishing You Well So Much (多想你好), was sung by Andy Lau.
• The TVB drama "Always Ready" was filmed inside GFS HQ and starred Ekin Cheng.

Incidents

• August 26, 2003 - A Eurocopter EC 155 B1 crashed on a hill in Tung Chung on Lantau Island killing two aircrew (Pilot Pang Fu-kwok and Airman Chan Man-tik).

• December 27, 2010 - One of the GFS's Eurocopter Super Puma Mk II helicopters (B-HRN) ditched in Shing Mun Reservoir after the loss of its number 2 engine. It was in the process of collecting water from the reservoir to drop on a hill fire. None of the three crew members were injured. The Civil Aviation Department said on Tuesday it had retrieved the flight data recorder. An official report is pending.

See also

• Hong Kong Police Force
  • Police Tactical Unit (Hong Kong)
    • Special Duties Unit
• Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force

External links

• Government Flying Service official website
• Government Flying Services as described in Hong Kong Yearbook 2002
• Hong Kong Disciplined Services
• GFS - Open Day on Nov-08-2009