Article 61 of the air transport act of the Republic of Serbia defines the search and rescue of aircraft and persons as a system of measures and procedures undertaken to locate the place of an accident, rescue the injured persons or persons endangering the accident, providing immediate medical care for the injured and making sure they are transferred to safety.

Search and rescue system is organized and managed by the Directorate by way of search and rescue coordination center, in accordance with the regulation on providing the SAR services to retrieve aircraft and rescue persons, including the relevant international documents in this field.

The Search and Rescue division proposes training programs, organizing exercises, as well as national search and rescue plans for operational search and rescue, under the Law, and standards and recommended practices of ICAO Annex 12 to the Chicago Convention and the IAMSAR Manual.

Regulation on Providing the SARS Services to Retrieve Aircraft and Rescue Persons ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 96/15 and 40/16)

SAR division activities comprise:

• Planning, proposing, organizing the system and analyzing the situation in the field of provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation and reporting on the above;
• Communication, cooperation and coordination with authorized representatives of state bodies and other entities responsible for providing search and rescue services in civil aviation;
• Cooperation with international civil aviation organizations in the field of provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation, accommodation with the search and rescue services of neighboring countries;
• Proposing programs, documents, operational procedures, measures and procedures in the field of provision of search and rescue services in the civil aviation, as well as the tasks of drafting the plan and programs for organizing search and rescue services in civil aviation;
• Supervision of the Rescue Coordination Center and other participants and subjects in the system of provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation;
• Planning, proposing, organizing training, vocational training of people, as well as evaluating exercises in the field of provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation;
• Organization of the Rescue Coordination Center

Rescue Coordination Center is responsible for:

• Providing search services for aircraft and rescue of persons 24 hours a day in the defined area of ​​search and rescue in the Republic of Serbia (on duty in the SKC) in accordance with the provisions of the air transport act, national regulations, international standards and recommended practices;
• Operational communication, cooperation and coordination with the engaged participants who have a cooperation agreement with the Directorate in the field of the provision of search and rescue services, as well as with other entities participating in the system of search and rescue in civil aviation. Cooperation with rescue and coordination centers of the neighboring countries, as well as operational cooperation with the international organizations in the field of the provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation;
• Proposing and implementing exercises and training, and professional training of the personnel engaged in the system of provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation;
• Updating national and international radio transmitter base 406 MHz;
• Submission of reports on activities and events in the system of provision of search and rescue services in civil aviation

On the competencies of the SAR division – more detail in the Fact Sheet

On primary and secondary legislation of the SAR division - more detail in the Regulations section