If you’ve ever seen a movie with a ship or airplane in distress, you’ve probably heard the emergency call “Mayday.” The famous distress signal is well known to the public as well as the professionals who may or may not need to use it in their line of work. However, the lesser-known distress signal “Pan-Pan” is an internationally recognized declaration of urgency, which may sound strange to some.
The difference between Mayday and Pan-Pan plays an important function in the system of safety protocols that make aviation the safest way to travel compared to any other form of transportation. This is an urgency signal for a potential distress condition that is not immediately life-threatening. The flight crew can typically handle the situation for a time, but needs priority handling or special assistance on the ground.
When To Call Pan-Pan
Using alerts to other aircraft and ATC to stop non-urgent transmissions on the frequency and gives the distressed aircraft priority, without triggering the full-scale, immediate rescue response that a Mayday call commands. Just as with Mayday, if a pilot declares an urgent distress, they are supposed to repeat the phrase three times in their distress call, “Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan.”
Pilots use Pan-Pan in various scenarios where a safety concern exists, but they still have control of the aircraft and time to troubleshoot or divert. A good example is the failure of a single engine in a multi-engine aircraft, a hydraulic failure, or an electrical problem that does not immediately impact the ability to fly.
Informing Air Traffic Control That There Is A Concern
Alaska Airlines First Officer, Carlos Alberto Valdez, spoke to Simple Flying about the two terms.
“Some people see it as a two-stage thing – Pan Pan and Mayday. There might be closer to three if you can include just declaring an emergency. Pan Pan would be like when I had an experience flying an Embraer aircraft into Phoenix, where one of our three generators went down. Even though we have two left over, you really don’t want to rely on that. So it was not enough for us to move other airplanes that were ahead of us out of the way, but it was enough to tell air traffic control that we had a concern that we would like to really hurry up. Let’s say it’s yellow.”
If navigation failure causes the flight crew to become lost or experience instrument failure in good weather, they may call Pan-Pan for Air Traffic Control (ATC) assistance with vectors or position fixes. Another case could be a passenger or crew member falling seriously ill, where the situation is urgent, but the pilot can divert to a suitable airport with medical facilities on standby.
Should a low-fuel situation develop in which a change in current clearance is needed to prevent the aircraft from escalating into a full Mayday fuel emergency, Pan-Pan would be an appropriate distress call. Pilots can always upgrade a “Pan-Pan” to a “Mayday” if the situation deteriorates.
What Happens Next
When air traffic control receives a Pan call, they will immediately acknowledge the message and then prioritize handling of that aircraft over all non-urgent traffic. That means the only other airplanes that would receive priority ATC handling would be a Mayday or similar Pan-Pan status aircraft. ATC would also immediately coordinate with ground emergency services at the destination of the plane in question.
The aircraft’s data block on the controller’s screen may be marked as “EM” (Emergency) for quick identification and focus. The pilot should also consider setting their transponder to Code 7700 (the universal emergency squawk code) if they are unable to establish immediate radio contact or need to alert all ATC facilities to their situation.
Following the Pan-Pan signal, the pilot transmits an urgency message. The message should include as many of the following elements as necessary, like a Mayday emergency call. The decision to declare a Pan-Pan or Mayday rests with the pilot-in-command, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) encourages pilots to declare an emergency without hesitation if they have any doubt about the safety of the flight.
Declaring Mayday
When an aircraft or its occupants are in imminent and grave danger and require immediate assistance, the pilot declares Mayday. This is a declaration of a distress condition, which has absolute priority over all other radio communications. A good example is the Miracle on the Hudson incident, when the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, Chesley Sullenberger, safely performed a water landing after a double-engine failure.
Pilots are expected to declare Mayday in situations where safety is severely compromised, such as fire or smoke on onboard, complete engine failure, structural damage, loss of control, or critical failures in hydraulic or electrical systems. Other situations include imminent crash or ditching, a fuel emergency in which insufficient fuel remains to reach a safe landing, and situations where priority handling is needed.
Severe medical emergencies requiring immediate landing or a confirmed security threat onboard also warrant a Mayday call, in addition to using the appropriate transponder code.
“There’s orange, which is declaring an emergency,” Valdez said. “Or it could even be red. I had this experience with a medical emergency. I was flying from Phoenix to Everett, where we had a passenger have a medical emergency, and we had to divert. That’s full like ‘Move out of the way, we’re changing things up and everyone’s following us now,’ and I feel like ‘Mayday Mayday’ is the ultimate, ‘We are landing right now and there’s smoke in the cabin.’ That is truly Defcon 1.”
The pilot-in-command is empowered to declare an emergency whenever they deem the flight’s safety is compromised, and ATC is required to provide immediate priority and initiate rescue efforts upon receiving a Mayday call.
The Worst Case Scenario
According to the FAA, a pilot who is in distress or has an emergency situation should act right away to get help, putting correct protocol and clear communication first. The advised steps do not have to be carried out in the order listed, but the following actions are advised by the FAA to pilots in distress.
The pilot should climb to improve radar detection and communication capabilities. Pilots should, however, be aware that they need to clear altitude changes with ATC first. For safety reasons, with the exception of certain situations specified in 14 CFR section 91.3(b), unapproved altitude changes under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) within restricted airspace are prohibited.
Pilots should prepare to send a distress or urgency message that incorporates as many relevant elements as possible, ideally in this order:
|
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
|
1 |
MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAY-DAY |
|
2 |
Station addressed |
|
3 |
Aircraft call sign and type |
|
4 |
Type of emergency |
|
5 |
Weather |
|
6 |
Pilot’s intentions |
|
7 |
Current position and heading |
|
8 |
Altitude |
|
9 |
Fuel remaining in minutes |
|
10 |
Number of people onboard |
|
11 |
Other pertinent details |
Ensuring that a radar beacon transponder is on is crucial for military Identification Friend or Foe/Secure Identification Feature (IFF/SIF). The pilot should continue broadcasting the assigned code and Mode C altitude while in contact with ATC or relevant agencies, unless directed otherwise.
In the event of communication failure with ATC, the pilot should switch to squawk Code 7700 to indicate an emergency, including switching to Mode C. These actions are crucial for ensuring the safety and effective management of the situation during an emergency. Following proper protocol can significantly increase the likelihood of receiving assistance quickly.
Miracle On The Hudson: 14 Years On
14 years on from US1549’s fateful flight from New York to Charlotte, we look back on the dramatic events that unfolded.
The Origin Story
Early international aviation routes were established between countries like France and Britain.It was natural for French terms to be adopted into the international aviation and maritime communication standards. Radio communication protocols needed clear, universally understood signals.
Before the establishment of Mayday, the previous distress signal was the Morse code SOS. That was not considered suitable for voice communication. For instance, the letter “S” might sound like “F” depending on interference. According to How Stuff Works, the Mayday procedure word was conceived as a distress call in the early 1920s by Frederick Stanley Mockford, the radio officer at Croydon Airport, England.
Mayday was a derivation of the French “venez m’aider” (come help me) because so much air travel took place between London and Paris. In 1927, the United States officially adopted “mayday” as a distress signal for radiotelegraphy. Due to the risk of potential interference and high ambient noise, pilots are required to repeat the word three times: “Mayday, mayday, mayday.”
“Panne” was adopted from French as well for its meaning: “a breakdown.” It was deemed appropriate for urgent situations of lower order of urgency and risk, as the Connexion reported. The Pan-Pan radiotelephony signal was established as the international standard urgency signal, recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
While some might mistakenly believe Pan-Pan is an acronym for “Possible Assistance Needed” or “Pay Attention Now,” these are only mnemonics for training courses. Pan-Pan has the same meaning as the Morse Code signal “XXX“, which was first defined by the International Radiotelegraph Convention of 1927.
