Niknak-"Unless the crew declare Mayday or Pan,no priority is given by ATC"-not true-any half decent controller will assess what he is being told by the crew(especially if non native English speakers) and act accordingly.In the LTMA last week,usual delays for EGLL,foreign national carrier checks in and says"my captain is ill"we didn't go through all that b
s about declaring an emergency,just ascertained that the co-pilot was happy to make an immediate approach and he was given priority.