Government Flying Service (Hong Kong)

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The Government Flying Service (GFS) (traditional Chinese: 政府飛行服務隊; pinyin: Zhèngfǔ Fēixíng FúWùduì) is a disciplined unit of the Government of Hong Kong SAR. It was established on April 1, 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 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.

Contents

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...

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

The fleet currently comprises (Aircraft Registration numbers):

Builder Model Type Number Dates Details
British Aerospace Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom BAe Jetstream 41 search and rescue/maritime survellience aircraft 2 (B-HRS and B-HRT) 1999? Long range/offshore SAR missions, aerial survey and survellience
Eurocopter Flag of Germany Germany / Flag of France France AS332 L2 inshore/offshore search and rescue helicopter; fire fighting 3 (B-HRL, B-HRM and B-HRN) 2002 replaced the Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk
Eurocopter Flag of Germany Germany / Flag of France France EC 155 B1 aeromedical services, inshore search and rescue, VIP and government personnel transfer 4 (B-HRU, B-HRV, B-HRW, B-HRY) 2002 A fifth one, B-HRX crashed on a mission in 2003.
Beechcraft Flag of the United States United States Beechcraft Super King Air maritime survellience aircraft; VIP aircraft 2 1993? retired 1998 and 1999 and replaced by BAe Jetstream 41
Sikorsky Aircraft Flag of the United States United States Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk medium lift helicopters 3 (B-HZJ, B-HZI, and B-HZK) 1993? used for search and rescue and by the Hong Kong Police Force; retired 2002 and replaced by Super Puma AS332 L2
Sikorsky Aircraft Flag of the United States United States Sikorsky S-76 utility helicopter 6 1993? used by the Government of Hong Kong and VIP service; retired 2002
Slingsby Aviation Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Slingsby T-67M-200 Firefly trainer 4 1993? retired 1996

GFS employs 238 personnel and they are comprised of:

  • 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 lead by a controller, who reports to the Secretary for Security. The current controller is Captain Brian Y M Butt.

Other senior officers of the GFS are:

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

Ranking of personnel of the GFS 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

  • 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 starring Ekin Cheng.

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