Civil state aviation: New regulation for flights by blue light organizations
To reflect current practice in a separate ordinance for manned and unmanned state flights: This is the aim of the new ordinance on civil state aviation. It concerns flights for customs and police services as well as for search, rescue and emergency response. The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) is submitting the draft ordinance to interested parties for consultation.
A rescue mission by helicopter after a skiing accident; the police searching for a missing person with a drone; the fire department fighting a forest fire from the air: these missions are to be depicted in the new national aviation ordinance.
The existing national legal basis is incomplete and no longer up to date. For example, unmanned state aircraft - such as the drones used by the police or fire department - are not yet regulated by law.
The FOCA therefore intends to update the legal basis based on current practice and set it down in a new ordinance.
Rescue flights will also be possible with single-engine helicopters in future
The draft ordinance leaves the requirements for the flight performance classes for rescue flights with helicopters at their current level. This means that rescue flights with single-engine helicopters can continue to take place in Switzerland in the future.
The draft ordinance provides for an approximation to civil aviation standards in individual areas: This concerns, for example, night flights, for which the FOCA would like to prescribe the use of certified night vision devices. The use of such devices increases flight safety; various airlines already use them. The FOCA also wants to adapt the visual minima to European standards. The aim is to protect the crew and patients from collisions with obstacles or other aircraft.
The FOCA also proposes that the licensing and training of pilots as well as the certification and maintenance of aircraft be formally subject to European civil aviation regulations. This will provide Switzerland with a legal basis for deploying crews and aircraft in both civil state aviation and civil aviation without further formalities. This means, for example, that the same helicopter with the same crew can carry out a flight with tourists immediately after a firefighting operation.
Stakeholder consultation until the end of August
The FOCA will open the stakeholder consultation on June 25, 2025. The affected companies, blue light organizations and authorities have until the end of August to comment on the draft ordinance. FOCA will then finalize the draft and submit it to the Federal Council for approval.
Source: FOCA
