Poor r/t phraseology by the Expressjet pilot, although all too common in the USA. This guy canīt even get the attention (understandably so) of the tower and that is basically on his home turf. Would not work anywhere in the world either.
R/t phraeology in the Hudson River ditching was similar, and it also took a couple of calls before ATC realised what was going on.
Lessons for anyone?