GT3 if you are going to quote yourself then please quote what you wrote, 'I have a keen interest in aviation' and 'an interest in aviation is key to the role of an ATCO' from which became, 'people with an interest in aviation helps you'. The latter implies it's no big deal but the former claims it's key to the role, right up their with being able to keep aircraft apart! Also when asking for examples I was looking for things that could not be gained through TRUCE, a UTP or asking a pilot/other controllers. So far the best example has been LnL and the SF34 but I would like to think any valid controller faced with an aircraft declaring a mayday due to a failure of any description in his/her circuit would get it down asap and on any runway available, pilots don't declare mayday lightly, but maybe I have too much faith in my colleague.