beardy:
What an extraordinary statement, coming from someone who claims:
19,000 hours total time, 14,500 with TWA. Retired late 1990. TERPs Committee and accident investigatgor for ALPA National and to be an Aviation Consultant in U.S. terminal instrument procedures and airspace matters.
Perhaps you could enlighten us all where and when the USA notified an ICAO difference that they would no longer use MAYDAY. Or was it a personal opinion?
In my count "MAYDAY" 3 times is 6 syllables, "this is an emergency" is 7 and I have an emergency is also 7 never mind "I am declaring an emergency."
In my opinion "MAYDAY" gets everybody's attention in a way that the word emergency doesn't.
I'm not defending it, I am telling it the way it is.
Having said that I declared only once in my career. It was on a taxiway at ORD where a DAL had taken the wrong turn and was headed for us, getting closer and closer with each vain attempt to turn around a 727-200 on a taxiway. The tower wouldn't intercede. So, when it got too close for comfort I got on ground control and stated, "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! XXX is declaring an emergency on Taxiway YYY."
That got him stopped....finally. My F/E was ready to leave the cockpit because the next wing swipe would have taken out the cockpit.
You can read about it in Dave Gwinn's book.