Channel Island Air Search is a voluntary organisation formed in 1980 for the primary purpose of assisting in the saving of lives at sea. It is a rapid response service, with comprehensive Search and limited Rescue capability. The Service's aircraft will operate under the direction of any of the recognised SAR authorities, and will work in close conjunction with lifeboats, helicopters or other vessels or aircraft. It provides a rapid response search capability in the 4,000 square miles of water surrounding the British Channel Islands and the adjacent French coast and is involved in 30 to 40 call outs each year. The aircraft has the capability to act as on-scene commander, if so tasked, communicating as required by aeronautical and marine VHF radio. Many of the crew are commercial pilots.

The service celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005 and was honoured to receive the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

The Service costs over £70,000 per annum to run and is solely dependent upon public subscription. The Friends of Air Search in the four main Channel Islands are responsible for much of the fund raising and do a magnificent job each year raising money for new equipment and running costs. In 2000 alone, the Friends of CIAS raised a magnificent £200,000 to purchase an advanced third generation Forward Looking Infra Red camera (FLIR) which is located beneath the nose of the aircraft.