Originally Posted by
thermostat
What I find strange is that after all these years we only have three emergency codes. I think separate codes for engine fire, hydraulic failure, cargo fire, passenger problem, low fuel, smoke in cabin etc etc would be most helpful. Why are humans just like lumps on a log? We need some thinkers among us.
Or just keep it simple. Getting more codes would lead to more accidental mis-setting. The three codes are enough to alert ATC to a problem, and how they respond won't really affected by the nature of your situation.
The 3 codes puts a big ring around you and alerts all ATC units that can pick you up on secondary. If ATC then need to start looking up codes then they're more likely to lose their eye off the main issue and that is more likely to lead to a mistake.