The Guernsey-based volunteer search and rescue organisation has reacted quickly to the news about the aircraft Lions’ Pride which broke on Tuesday.
It has informed the Guernsey and Jersey coastguards, emergency services and other relevant authorities that its services are temporarily unavailable.
‘All other usual arrangements for search and rescue coordination across the Channel Islands remain in place.’
Air Search explained the issue which had caused its Britten Norman Islander to be left in its purpose-built hangar at Guernsey airport.
‘A regulatory technical issue relating to our aircraft registration provider has resulted in a recent decision by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground hundreds of aircraft globally, including the Channel Islands Air Search aircraft,’ it said in a statement yesterday.
This relates to the holder of the certificates, the Southern Aircraft Consultancy Incorporated, falling foul of US law relating to citizenship.
In its announcement, the FAA said that US and foreign registrations were taken by SACI using trust agreements and this required either the company or the trustee to be a US citizen or a resident alien.
It quickly emerged that the only solution for the aircraft owner would be to swap its registration to another provider.
‘This work is under way and we will do everything possible to resume operations as quickly as we can,’ said CIAS.
‘However, completion is dependent on response times from third parties and the FAA, and therefore a confirmed timeline is not yet available.’
CIAS reassured people that it was working as quickly as possible to get the aircraft flying again and further updates would be given as more information was made available.
‘We would like to thank our volunteers, emergency services colleagues, and the wider community for their continued support and understanding.’
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