Originally Posted by
Victor2
PAN is an internationally recognised call to express an emergency situation. In one of my previous lives I was a Check Airman with a carrier that employed pilots from over 40 nations from all continents. There was no one who did not understand the application of this R/T call. If you have used CPDLC (datalink communications for the uninitiated) you will know that PAN is an available selection to be used anywhere in the world.
Victor2
A nice idea which I'm sure is based on fact, but in reality - it is simply not the case.
I have witnessed/been involved in both "pan" and "mayday" scenarios over the years in European airspace and the pan call was simply met with puzzlement. I have also heard French ATC not understand a "mayday" over the bay of biscay. That one opened my eyes!
The manual often goes out of the window in alot of real world cases and I have concluded that the
only way to get someone's attention is by shouting "mayday!"
Rgds