Originally Posted by
mechpowi
Some people seem to have preference of pan-pan over mayday. Is there some extra ”costs” (paperwork, etc…) involved in their operational envioroment? Or what’s the reason to restrain from mayday?
I ask this, because in my enviroment it’s either mayday, if I want something from the ATC, or if not, then ”For your information we have… and request…”). Only time I would use pan- pan is if I didn’t have emergency onboard but needed to cut in between transimissions.
I guess it depends on your definition of distress and urgency. I have no hesitation to call MAYDAY after a sudden engine failure on takeoff. But neither do I have any hesitation to 'downgrade' this MAYDAY to a PAN once the situation is under control, everyone is aware of our situation, and we are flying back for a controlled single engine landing.
I have once used PAN to convey to the controller the urgency we had on board and it worked a charm (as it should). I would have used MAYDAY if he remained unconvinced and the situation deteriorated.