Pan Pan?
Anybody else come across this?
We're all aware that the majority of UK airports will accept a safety related diversion, and that most should then waive landing fees for it. Fine, a good position, respected by pretty much everybody.
A couple of weeks ago, due to a combination of some slightly tight flight planning on my part, and an unexpected and substantial request for a dog-leg whilst under RADAR control, I realised that I wasn't going to get to my (unlit) destination in daylight.
So, I spoke to the controller working me, with words something like "zzzzz radar, I have a problem, because of requested route change am now unable to make destination in daylight, my aircraft is not equipped for night flying, request a diversion to yyyyy". yyyy is a regional airport operated by BAA (and on zzz radar's patch).
This they arranged reasonably quickly and helpfully, and the diversion was smooth enough, as was the very helpful ground handling. I ended up stopping the night and departing in the morning.
Only thing is, I got charged a standard fee for the landing. I paid, and don't plan to complain about this - it was my cutting my planning a bit fine that caused the whole thing after all. But, apparently had I made a PAN call, they'd have waived my landing fee.
It struck me as a slightly odd position, since a diversion is a diversion, I'd had no problem getting what I needed without declaring an urgency or emergency, and could potentially have just landed in a field or continued a little into night, so hadn't used the term.
Anybody have any experience or views of this?
G