Flying service heading for the jet age with two new acquisitions

The Government Flying Service will buy two jets to replace the fixed-wing propeller aircraft used for search- and-rescue missions.

'The new planes are faster with longer endurance, allowing them to conduct more rounds of search-and- rescue,' said GFS controller Michael Chan Chi-pui.

The jets will replace the Jetstream 41 planes used on long-range missions south of Hong Kong. Chan said the tender process to acquire the aircraft was still under way but that they were expected to enter service by the first quarter of 2013.

The planes are usually the first to reach the scene of a rescue and act as the 'on-scene commander,' searching for survivors in rough seas and circling the area until a rescue helicopter arrives.

'If the new planes fly to the end of our operation area, 700 nautical miles south of Hong Kong, they will be able to stay over the scene for an hour before flying back,' Chan said, adding that this was four times longer than the Jetstreams could do.

The new planes are expected to cost about HK$775 million each and can reach speeds of 450 knots, much faster than the Jetstream's maximum of 295 knots.

Despite increasing co-operation with the mainland flying services, Chan said the GFS did not plan to buy the new planes from the mainland's military as 'the capability of mainland-made aircraft is still a distance behind other countries'.