It is actually a requirement under mat regulatory systems. It might seem excessive, but it gets the point across. A pan would seem to be adequate, but often the failure to communicate issues has led to bad days. Much of the world will only achieve curiosity from a Pan call.
Quite.
last time I did a pan call the approach controller didn’t even pass it on to tower and when I landed we were told to wait for stand as they hadn’t been told about it either.
if I had an engine failure I’d make a mayday call initially and then when I had it all under control maybe here after drift down and level off, or if it happened on take off, after the non normal checklist and after take off checklist etc I’d likely downgrade it to a pan.
Seems odd to me all these people criticising the captain for making a mayday initially. I’m sure they’ve all had lots of engine failures though so are likely more experienced.