¹ The territories of the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein constitute a single area of search and rescue. The latter is delimited by the respective national borders.

² The cantonal police of Zurich is designated as the Swiss Centre for the Coordination of Civil Aviation Search and Rescue. This centre can be reached in accordance with the indications contained in the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) ² Switzerland, SAR chapter. ³

³ Search operations are carried out by the Air Force.

⁴ The terms and conditions shall be fixed by contract.

Air traffic control centres, airfield leaders and other air police agencies report to the coordination centre through the quickest routes, when an aircraft has lost liaison with the control bodies Or that the delay exceeds the allowable margins.

¹ If it triggers research operations, the coordination centre announces it to the aircraft registration state, its operator, as well as to the authorities, services and agencies concerned.

² Where appropriate, the Coordination Centre also announces the initiation of research operations at neighbouring foreign focal points, whether or not they require collaboration.

The coordination centre seeks to obtain all available information on the aircraft (flight plan, flight notice, planned evasive airfields, forced landing, accidents, etc.), to reconstruct the route followed and to locate the area of Research.

Air traffic control centres seek to contact the aircraft and determine its position, either in the air or on the ground.

¹ The coordination centre can hire aircraft to explore the areas in which the aircraft could have dropped or made a forced landing.

² Crews of research aircraft equipped with the necessary equipment attempt to link to the aircraft or to capture its emissions.

The Coordination Centre may invite the public, by the press and the radio, to provide all observations to assist in locating the aircraft.

Some research operations, in limited areas, can be assigned to land patrols.

¹ As a general rule, the first aid is carried by the local authorities, to which the coordination centre provides reinforcements in case of need.

² If the wreck is in a place that is not easily accessible, the coordination centre can carry out rescue and rescue operations with ground columns or aircraft.

¹ The contents of rescue packages launched by aircraft to survivors are indicated by coloured ribbons as follows:

Red:

Medical kit and first-aid articles

Blue:

Water and food

Yellow:

Protective Coverings and Clothing

Black:

Miscellaneous equipment, radio apparatus, stoves, axes, compasses, usten kitchen appliances, etc.

² If articles from different groups are launched in a single package, the package bears ribbons of the different colors coming into consideration.

³ Packages contain printed instructions for the use of the various items. These instructions are written in German, French, Italian and English.

¹ Rescue teams shall ensure that, with the exception of the necessary rescue measures, no changes to the official investigation are made at the scene of the accident.

² They take every precaution to prevent the wreck from burning.

¹ For ground-to-air links, survivors use the International Code A of visual signals, the search and rescue teams, the international code B of visual signals, set out in the appendix.

² The crews of aircraft that have seen and understood a visual signal on the ground give out by message the wings of the aircraft.

This order shall enter into force on 1 ^Er May 1955.