I will make one comment and then depart this rather odd discussion.
Back in 1972 I made a mayday call; I expected the whole world to be informed and was looking for help.
Seems some now would expect a rather different response a humble and respectful attitude, only those in the know to be informed and we would not want to upset the relations so would keep it secret.
In my case this attitude would have been less than helpful, I and my crew made it, but only because my mayday was open knowledge. A fishing boat had picked up a news broadcast on its radio giving the estimated position I had given. A good end result, never did confirm the reason for the transmission failure but the Pacific is rather deep so never will.
O
