FAI Skydiving Commission (ISC)

About the FAI Skydiving Commission

All FAI Skydiving and Parachuting international championships, competitions and record activities, both outdoor and indoor, are conducted under the direction of the FAI Skydiving Commission (ISC). ISC stands for "International Skydiving Commission".

Structure

The International Skydiving Commission, (ISC), also branded as World Skydiving, is one of 11 Air Sport Commissions (ASC) and three Technical Commissions organised under the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), founded in 1905 and headquartered in Lausanne Switzerland. The FAI is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Other examples of ASCs include gliding, aeromodelling and ballooning. Under delegated powers from FAI, the ISC administers competitions, records and activities for sport parachuting/skydiving.

There are over 100 member organisations to FAI. Within each country, a National Air Sport Control, (NAC) administers all FAI air sports. In some countries with multiple air sports, the country’s NAC may further delegate powers to national organisations for parachuting, gliding, drones, ballooning, for example; for others, the NAC exists solely for parachuting.

ISC Meeting

The annual ISC Meeting includes:

The Plenary Meeting
Bureau meetings
Extended Bureau meetings, and
Permanent or temporary Committees’ and Working Groups’ meetings.

The ISC must meet sometime between 20 January and 20 February. As an FAI ASC under the FAI Bylaws, the ISC technically should hold its meetings at or in the vicinity of Lausanne unless another venue is bid for and voted upon by a greater than 50% majority. This is usually the case.

The format is prescribed as follows:

Tuesday: Arrival Day, evening fellowship, perhaps Committee/Extended Bureau meetings.

Wednesday: Open Meetings Day 1: Items on the Agenda are reviewed, discussed and explained in readiness for formal voting during the Plenary.

Thursday: Open Meetings Day 2: As above.

Friday: Closed Meetings Day: Bureau, Committees and Working Groups meet in private to finalise their positions and submissions for voting. A casual social gathering may happen in the evening.

Saturday: Plenary Meeting Day 1: This is the formal governing body of the ISC which must vote on all documents and decisions taken by the ISC, the Bureau, Committees and Working Groups. Documents are presented and votes are taken. All changes to rules or procedures must be voted upon. Bids are heard for future competitions and ISC Meetings. Lists of FAI Judges and Jury members are approved.

Sunday: Plenary Meeting Day 2: The same as above. Must close by 14.00 to allow departures.

Who may attend?

Each NAC may send one Delegate and one Alternate Delegate to the ISC annual meeting, plus an Interpreter. An unlimited number of Appointed Observers may attend.

Appointed Observers

The names of all Appointed Observers must be sent by their NAC to the ISC Bureau via the ISC Recording Secretary at least seven (7) days before the start of the ISC Plenary Meeting. Appointed Observers may be technical experts, interested parties or accompanying persons. They may contribute in the meetings of the Committees and Working Groups if invited by the Chairs. At the Plenary they have no right to speak unless granted that right by the Chair. They have no voting rights at any time.

The powers, rights and obligations of each position are different.

DELEGATE	ALTERNATE DELEGATE
Exercise voting rights for their NAC	Only exercise voting rights if the Delegate is absent
May be Chair or Deputy Chair of a Committee or Working Group	May be Chair or Deputy Chair of a Committee or Working Group
May be elected to the Bureau	May not be elected to the Bureau
May carry a proxy for one (1) other NAC	Carries no proxies
Has the right to speak at the Plenary	Has the right to speak at the Plenary
May submit proposals to the Agenda

Plenary, Bureau and Extended Bureau

The Plenary consists of all Delegates and Alternate Delegates from every NAC, meeting on the Saturday and Sunday to vote on all decisions. List of Delegates
The Bureau comprises the elected officials who are the decision-making and executive body with the power to make decisions between Plenary meetings. It includes the President, First Vice-President, two Vice-Presidents, Recording Secretary and Finance Secretary. Each official holds their position for two years. They may be re-elected for an unlimited number of terms.
The Extended Bureau comprises the Bureau and all Chairs of Committees. It typically meets on the Arrival Day and one other evening to formulate plans, manage issues and discuss progress.

To qualify for the Bureau:

The President must be a Delegate to be elected, then must resign as Delegate from their NAC
All Vice-Presidents must be Delegates
The Recording Secretary and Finance Secretary must be persons capable and competent to perform the duties of the roles. If they are also Delegates, but not Alternates, they exercise voting rights at Bureau meetings.

Bureau

Between annual meetings, the FAI Skydiving Commission is run by the Bureau, which consists of the President, three Vice Presidents, the Finance Secretary and the Recording Secretary. The Bureau is elected during the annual meeting of the FAI Skydiving Commission.

List of Bureau members

Agenda and Annexes

Delegates must submit any documents they wish to be included in the ISC Meeting to the ISC Recording Secretary no later than 1 December in the year preceding the meeting, or earlier as advised. Documents may include:

Reports from Chairs of Committees and Working Groups
Reports from Chief Judges from competitions conducted in the current year
Reports from WAG and WG Liaison Officers
Reports from Media and Finance officials
Proposals for rule changes
Bids for future competitions
Bids for future ISC Meetings

NB: If bidding for an ISC competition, an Application Fee must be paid, see 2019 First Category Event Application Document

Committees and Working Groups

The ISC does its work through 13 Committees and three Working Groups, created by the Plenary under Terms of Reference (TOR). These TOR are approved by the ISC Plenary. Members may belong to up to three (3) Committees. The differences are:

COMMITTEE	WORKING GROUP
Comprises the Chair and up to eight (8) individuals. It must not have fewer than five (5) members.	Chair and up to five (5) other individuals
Is Chaired by a Delegate or Alternate	Is Chaired by a Delegate or Alternate, except for Finance, WAG (World Air Games) and World Games (WG) Working Groups.
The Chair and Deputy Chair may not be Chair or Deputy Chair of another Committee	The Chair or Deputy Chair may be Chair or Deputy Chair of a Committee
The ISC President may not be a member	The ISC President may be a member
Members require approval in writing from their Delegate if not Delegates or Alternates	Members require approval in writing from their Delegate if not Delegates or Alternates
Examples include: • Discipline Committees: Style & Accuracy, AE, CF, CP, FS, IS, PS, SP, WS, Dynamic • Rules & Regulations • Judges • Technical & Safety	Examples include: • Finance: Chair must be Finance Secretary • Media & Promotion • WAG, WG: ISC President is ex-officio Chair

List of Committees and Working Groups

Structure and work of Committees

Structure

The term of office for the Chair of an ISC Committee or Working Group (hereinafter grouped together as “Committee”) will be two (2) years, concurrent with the term of office of the ISC Bureau. When first appointed the Chair have to be present at the Plenary Meeting.
The Chair of an ISC Committee may be re-appointed an unlimited number of times.
The Chair of an ISC Committee will be proposed by the ISC Bureau to the ISC Plenary for approval.
The Chair will assume the responsibilities of the position at the end of the Plenary Meeting at which the appointment is made.
Chairs of each ISC Committee shall appoint Deputy Chairs, who must be current Delegates, Alternate Delegates or Appointed Observers, to act in their places should they not be present at Committee proceedings.
The members of an ISC Committee will be selected annually by the Chair of the Committee.
The members of an ISC Committee will be proposed by the Chair of the Committee to the Plenary meeting for approval.
The ISC Competition Committees report directly to the Bureau and the Plenary Meeting of the ISC and are responsible to the Plenary Meeting.

Competition Committees

Except for the publication of press releases and statistical information, all findings, reports, recommendations and proposals of the ISC Competition Committees shall be presented to the Plenary Meeting, which shall decide on their use, distribution or publication.

Each ISC Competition Committee shall engage in and be responsible for:

Competition Rules for its event.
Advising Organisers and potential Organisers of World Championships and International Competitions in its event.
Advising the Bureau on the selection of the FAI Controller for a World Championship in its event.
Soliciting bids for future World Championships in its event.
Analysing results and experiences from WPCs so as to recommend changes where necessary.

Annual Reporting

Each year, the Chair of each ISC Committee and Working Group shall present to the Plenary Meeting a written Annual Report which will give details of the Committee’s work during the previous year. The report must contain all proposals and recommendations for changes (i.e. to Competition Rules, Sporting Code etc.) which will be discussed in the Committee working session held immediately prior to the Plenary Meeting. The report must be submitted to the ISC Recording Secretary, no later than 1 December, so that it can be distributed with the Agenda.

Awards

FAI Medals and Diplomas are awarded each year at the annual FAI General Conference.

The FAI Awards for parachuting are the following:

FAI Gold Parachuting Medal
Leonardo da Vinci Diploma

Records

The FAI maintains files of all aviation records and the FAI Skydiving Commission lays down the requirements for class conformity and flight verification where parachuting is concerned. The requirements are to be found in Section 5 of the Sporting Code.

Access the database and consult the current and past Parachuting/Skydiving World Records

Rules & other documents

As always, the rules are the first authority. All may be found on the ISC Documents page to get the latest edition of those documents.

DOCUMENT	CONTENTS
Sporting Code - General Section	The rules pertaining to all Air Sports
Sporting Code - Section 5	The rules pertaining to all Parachuting/Skydiving disciplines
Sporting Code - Competition Rules	The rules pertaining to each discipline in parachuting & skydiving
ISC Internal Regulations	Rules pertaining to how the ISC conducts its affairs
	Terms of Reference - Specific to each Committee and Working Group.
Event Organisers	First Category Event Application Document (FCEAD)
	Blank Official Bid Document
	Blank Official Bulletin 1 & 2 documents
Officials, Judges and Delegates	Expense Reimbursement Policy & Expenses Form
Controller	List of Nominated Juries and Controllers
	FAI Controller Handbook & Annex 4
	ISC Personnel List for FAI Controller
Judges	List of FAI Judges
	Lists of selected panels of Judges
	Lists of selected panels of Judges
Jury	Jury Lists
	Jury Handbook & Annexes