NoD
Vlad is quite right - 'Full Emergency' definition is when an aircraft is known or suspected to be in such trouble that there is danger of an accident. This will normally bring the outside emergency services rushing in!!
We also have an 'Aircraft Ground Incident' which is when an aircraft on the ground is known to have an emergency situation, other than an accident, which requires the attendance of the emergency services. This also in most cases brings the outside services in.
Just to give you some idea - if you were airborne and declared a Mayday with an engine fire warning it would be a Full Emergency. If the same thing happened when you were taxying out, it would be an Aircraft Ground Incident.
Apart from the obvious 'Aircraft Accident' we also have a lower category called 'Local Standby' - when an aircraft is known or suspected to have developed some defect but one which would not normally involve any serious difficulty in effecting a safe landing. This is also used if you ask for your aircraft to be inspected by the Airport Fire Service or if you are being searched following a Bomb Warning. This is normally dealt with 'in-house'
At my unit we also have an 'Aircraft Ditching' procedure!!
Note the words 'suspected'. In other words, even if you dont say anything, if we have that certain feeling in our water we can still hit the button. Hope that helps.
