ICAO Annex 12

Annex 12 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention, 1944), the ICAO standard governing aeronautical search and rescue. It sets out how states organize SAR services, rescue coordination centers, and cooperation across borders, and it is the aviation counterpart to the maritime SAR Convention of 1979. Annex 12 and the maritime SAR regime are aligned through the joint IAMSAR Manual, so that aircraft and ships follow compatible procedures when responding to a distress at sea.