The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has submitted a draft regulation on civil state aviation for consultation. The aim is to regulate current practices in customs and police services, as well as in search, rescue, and emergency response flights, in a separate regulation for manned and unmanned state flights. This applies, for example, to helicopter rescue missions following skiing accidents, police searches for missing persons, or fire service air operations during forest fires.
The Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA) justifies this step by stating that the "existing national legal framework is incomplete and no longer up-to-date." In particular, unmanned state aircraft, such as drones used by police or fire departments, are not yet regulated by law. The authority therefore intends to update the legal framework based on current practice and incorporate it into a new regulation. The draft retains the existing performance class requirements for helicopter rescue flights, meaning that single-engine helicopters can continue to be used for such missions in Switzerland.
The draft regulation proposes approximation to civil aviation standards in some areas. This includes night flights, for which the Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA) intends to require the use of certified night vision devices. Furthermore, the minimum visibility requirements are to be aligned with European standards. The overarching goal is to increase the safety of crew and patients against collisions with obstacles or other aircraft. These measures are intended to raise operational safety in state air transport to a higher level.
Another proposal from the FOCA concerns the formal subjection of pilot licensing and training, as well as the certification and maintenance of aircraft, to European civil aviation regulations. The FOCA explains that this would "give Switzerland a legal basis to deploy crews and aircraft without further formalities in both civil state and civil aviation." A practical example of this would be that "for example, the same helicopter with the same crew could immediately follow a firefighting operation with a tourist flight." The stakeholder consultation opened on June 25; interested parties can comment on the draft until the end of August before the FOCA finalizes it and submits it to the Federal Council for approval.