Government Flying Service

Operations

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 aircraft and 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 50 nm/92.5 km of GFS HQ) – 1hr / 1hr 40m (with additional/specialised equipment)

Search and rescue callout time 2200-0659 -(within 50 nm/92.5 km of GFS HQ) – 2hr

For SARs outside 50 nm / 92.5 km – add 30mins per 50 nm

Fixed Winged Aircraft 0700-2159 – (within 50 nm/92.5 km of GFS)- 50m, (between 50 nm/92.5 km to 100 nm/185 km of GFS)- 1hr 5m, (beyond 100 nm/185 km of GFS)- add 15m per 50 nm.

Fleet

The fleet currently comprises:

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

In 2015, Government Flying Service placed orders for 7 Airbus Helicopters H175 aircraft, for which it will be the launch customer. Delivery is expected in 2017 and 2018.

Retired fleet

The fleet has previously included:

Aircraft on Order

The following aircraft are on HKGFS's Orderbooks

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

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 survival/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)

Uniform

Operations uniforms:

green Jumpsuit or separate Flight jacket and pants - pilot and aircrew

blue jumpsuit or separate Flight jacket and pants - mechanics and engineers

Dress uniforms:

light blue shirt (short sleeve for summer and long sleeve for winter) with dark tie dress jacket and pants

dark skirts for women

sweaters for men

dark windbreaker jacket for summer

Peaked cap - male and female variations

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

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

26 August 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).

27 December 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 the following day it had retrieved the flight data recorder. Pending a final report, an interim bulletin issued in February 2012 reported that the number two engine was correctly shut down automatically by the engine control unit because the turbine had begun to overspeed, because there appear to be no fault in the turbine or the fuel systems the overspeed is possibly the result of a disconnection of the engine from the main gearbox because of wear to the freewheel unit that connect the two. The Helicopter was rebuilt by the engineering team after recovered from reservoir.