3.6.1
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Responsible authority
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3.6.1.1
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Ministry of Civil Aviation is responsible for SAR policy in India for Civil Aviation.
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan
New Delhi - 110003
Telephone: +91-11-24613246
Fax: +91-11-24610363
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3.6.1.2
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SAR services are provided
i. over land areas by the National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Co-ordination Committee (NASARCC) with Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation as its Chairman, and
ii. over oceanic areas by the National Maritime SAR Board (NMSARB) with Director General, Indian Coast Guard as its Chairman.
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3.6.1.3
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Airports Authority of India is responsible for establishment and provision of search and rescue services in coordination with Ministry of Defence and other agencies to ensure that assistance is rendered to persons in distress. Such services are provided on a 24-hour basis.
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3.6.1.4
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Queries on SAR for civil aviation, including matters arising from this section of the AIP, should be addressed in the first instance to the following:
The Chairman
Airports Authority of India
Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan
Safdarjung Airport
New Delhi 110003
Tel: +91 11 24632930
Fax: +91 11 24641088
AFS: VIDDYXAC
Email: chairman@aai.aero
Website: www.aai.aero
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3.6.1.5
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Applicable Documents
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Applicable ICAO Documents:
- Annex 12 - Search and Rescue
- Annex 13 - Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation.
The Standards and Recommended Practices contained in the Annex to the convention on International Civil Aviation are followed in India, subject to differences that may be filed from time to time. The existing differences are listed in GEN 1.7 of AIP India.
- DOC 7030 - Regional Supplementary Procedures for Alerting and Search and Rescue services applicable in the PAC Region.
- DOC 9731 (Vol I, Vol II and Vol III) - International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual
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3.6.2
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Area of responsibility
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3.6.2.1
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The Indian Search and Rescue Region (SRR)
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The boundary of Indian Aeronautical SRR coincides with Indian FIR boundary, excluding the portion of FIR over the sovereign territory of Kingdom of Bhutan. The Indian SRR comprises Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai FIRs. FIR boundary coordinates are published in ENR 2.1 of eAIP India. Charts depicting the areas of responsibility are shown after GEN 3.6.7.
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3.6.3
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Types of Service
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3.6.3.1
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Search and rescue services are provided within the entire Indian Search and Rescue Regions. There are four Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) and one Rescue Sub Centre established in India as described below:
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Name
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Rescue Coordination Centre - Kolkata
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Postal Address
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Airports Authority of India,
N.S.C.B. I. Airport,
Kolkata - 700052 (West Bengal)
INDIA
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Telephone
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RCC:
+91-33-25130218
+91-33- 25119600 (EPABX), Extn. - 2565, 2474
FIC:
+91-33- 25119600 (EPABX), Extn. - 2476
Watch Supervisory Officer :
+91-33-25119520
+91-33- 25119600(EPABX), Extn. - 2404
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Fax
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+91-33-25130218 (RCC)
+91-33-25130134 (Watch Supervisory Officer)
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AFS
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VECCYCYX (RCC)
VECFZQZX (Watch Supervisory Officer)
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SRR
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Kolkata FIR, excluding the portion of FIR over the sovereign territory of Kingdom of Bhutan.
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3.6.3.2
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In addition, various other departments of the Central and State Governments such as Railways, Post & Telegraph, All India Radio, Police and District Collectors/Magistrates, Municipal and Local bodies, Airline operators, Flying clubs, Professional Pilots, Mercantile Marine, Port Trust and Armed Forces are available for search and rescue missions when required.
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3.6.3.3
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Satellite aided Search and Rescue
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3.6.3.3.1
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India is a participating member in the SARSAT-COSPAS programme which is a satellite-based search and rescue (SAR) distress alert detection and information distribution system. It operates on 406MHz. Location accuracy is normally within 5Km. The system will detect transmissions on this frequency throughout the Indian Search and Rescue Region (SRR) and also SRR of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Tanzania.
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3.6.3.3.2
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Under this programme Local User Terminals (LUT) have been established at Bengaluru and Lucknow. Indian Mission Control Centre (INMCC) at Bengaluru is responsible for coordinating with Rescue Coordination Centres and other International Mission Control Centres.
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3.6.3.3.3
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INMCC at Bengaluru is connected with RCCs at Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai through Aeronautical Fixed Service (AFS) network and any distress alert received for the areas covered is automatically transmitted to the concerned RCC.
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3.6.4
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SAR agreements
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3.6.4.1
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At present India has SAR Arrangement with Royal Government of Bhutan.
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3.6.4.2
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India can seek SAR assistance from adjoining RCCs of other nations in accordance with the bi-lateral agreement.
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3.6.4.3
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For the purpose of SAR, the authorities of the other State who wish their SAR units to enter the territory of India shall transmit a request, giving full details of the projected missions and the need for it to:
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The Director General of Civil Aviation,
DGCA Complex,
Opposite Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi - 110003
Telephone: 91-11-24622495
Fax: 91-11-24628922
AFS: VIDDYAYG
Email: dat@dgca.nic.in
Website: www.dgca.nic.in
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3.6.5
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Conditions of Availability:
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The SAR services are provided on H24 basis irrespective of State of registry of aircraft or nationality of occupants. SAR operations are coordinated by Airports Authority of India with Ministry of Defence and other resource agencies through trained SAR personnel.
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3.6.6
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Procedures and signals used:
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3.6.6.1
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Procedures and signals used by aircraft:
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3.6.6.1.1
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Procedures for pilot-in-command observing an accident intercepting a distress message are outlined in ICAO Annex 12, Chapter 5.
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3.6.6.1.2
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Ditching report requested by aircraft about to ditch, are given in accordance with the provision in ICAO DOC 7605 MET/526 (the procedures for Air Navigation Services and Meteorology).
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3.6.6.2
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Communications:
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3.6.6.2.1
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Transmission and reception of distress messages within Indian Search and Rescue region are handled in accordance with ICAO Annex 10 - Volume II, Chapter 5.
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3.6.6.2.2
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For communications during SAR operations, the codes and abbreviations published in ICAO Code and Abbreviations (Doc 8400) are used.
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3.6.6.2.3
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Information concerning position, call sign, frequencies and hours of operation of Indian aeronautical station is published in sections ENR 4.1 and AD 2 of respective aerodrome in eAIP India.
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3.6.6.2.4
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The frequency 121.5 MHz is guarded continuously during their hours of operation at all Area Control Centre (ACC) and Flight Information Centre (FIC). Other aeronautical stations, on request, will guard this frequency. All Coastal Stations guard the international distress frequencies.
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3.6.6.2.5
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Rescue aircraft belonging to permanent SAR units use the call-sign ZIGZAG. If more than one aircraft are engaged in SAR duties, a serial number is added to the basic call - sign ZIGZAG.
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3.6.6.3
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SAR Signals
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3.6.6.3.1
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The SAR signals to be used are those prescribed in Annex - 12, Chapter 5, para 5.8
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3.6.6.3.2
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Ground to Air Visual Signal Codes for use by Survivors:
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3.6.6.3.5
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Air to Ground Signals
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The following signals by aircraft mean that the ground signals have been
understood:
a) During the hours of daylight - by rocking the aircraft’s wings
b) During the hours of darkness - flashing on and off twice the aircraft's landing lights or, if not so equipped, by switching on and off twice its navigational lights. Lack of above signals indicates that the ground signal is not understood.
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3.6.7
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Forced Landing:
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3.6.7.1
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In India, the Flight Information Centres act as Rescue Coordination Centres, in addition to their other functions.
When an aircraft is reported or when it is known to have forced landed the RCC will immediately take action to
notify all those who could usefully assist in the SAR operations and will coordinate their actions.
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3.6.7.2
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To enable the RCC to act promptly, it would require information as soon as an aircraft is in distress. While there may not be any difficulty in obtaining such information through the Air Traffic Services in respect of aircraft fitted with suitable two-way communication facilities certain difficulties may arise in respect of aircraft not fitted with such facilities. The RCC will then have to depend entirely on the information which it may receive of the forced landing either from the pilot or from other sources such as Army units, Police outpost, Railways or District authorities.
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3.6.7.3
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When a pilot, who has forced landed reports the occurrence or request assistance, he should give precise information with regard to the position of aircraft. This position should be reported as true bearing and distance from the nearest railway station/prominent landmark with further reference to geographical coordinates or any other local points of reference. Reference to the name of the village may not be sufficient, since many villages are not marked on the 1: 1 million scale map.
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3.6.7.4
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Pilots are reminded that, after a forced landing away from an aerodrome, the aircraft will probably be surrounded by an inquisitive crowd. The majority of whom may have never seen an aeroplane at such close quarters. The pilot should therefore obtain assistance from the nearest police station for guarding the aircraft.
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3.6.7.5
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When aircraft is to be flown out, every possible precaution must be taken to keep the path clear before taxing and when opening-up for take-off. The direction in which the aircraft will move and danger of obstructions in its path must be clearly explained to all the onlookers. A responsible person should be selected from the crowd to keep the
people under control.
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