Emergency calls

[Tashengurt]

Can anyone explain the difference between a PAN call and a Mayday.
I've always assumed that the PAN means 'Have a problem and need to land ASAP' whilst the Mayday is more of a 'Have a problem and don't know what's going to happen next'. Is this correct?

[reportyourlevel]

PAN PAN is an urgency call, i.e. my message concerns the safety of an aircraft or other vehicle, or of some person on board or within sight, but does not require immediate assistance.

MAYDAY is a distress call, i.e. I am threatened by serious and/or imminent danger and require immediate assistance.

[WaterMeths]

A TRE in the sim once explained this in a very practical way after we raised the same question - A PAN call will araise interest from the emergency vehicles on the airfield - whereas a MAYDAY will start the ball rolling in the whole area (possibly the whole county) with Fire Ambulence and Police arriving at the airport with the expectation of possible loss of multiple lives.

[Tashengurt]

Thanks for that. I wasn't too far off then.

[FantomZorbin]

Tashengurt
By way of illustration, many moons ago a Vulcan in the radar circuit at Waddington/Scampton saw a collision between 2 vehicles on a remote country road. As one of the cars ended up upside down in a ditch the pilot transmitted a PAN call on behalf of the drivers, the details were then passed on by ATC to the authorities.

BTW this was in days when mobile phones hadn't even been thought of!!:eek:

[SATCOS WHIPPING BOY]

Urgency and Distress is correct and details are in CAP493 pt 1.

as an ex-controller I must say that either of the phrases PAN or MAYDAY certainly grabs your attention.

And from experience I have seen / heard of MAYDAY been used when it involved another a/c. 9and no one would slate anyone for doing so if it could be justified IMO)

Two jags off norfolk coast, one departed controlled flight and pilot ejected with no time to transmit anything, his no.2 made a MAYDAY call and put 7700 up to make our lives easier getting help to them. IIRC a rescue helo that was on its way to pick up the downed pilot also ended up declaring an emergency and had to ditch in the oggin too. It was, as an ATC sup, an interesting evening and everyone made it back to their respective messes safely:ok:

and the car crash scenario is true too..a similar event at a top secret base in Wiltshire sparked a UFO crash story but that is a whole new tale :oh:

[reportyourlevel]

A TRE in the sim once explained this in a very practical way after we raised the same question - A PAN call will araise interest from the emergency vehicles on the airfield - whereas a MAYDAY will start the ball rolling in the whole area (possibly the whole county) with Fire Ambulence and Police arriving at the airport with the expectation of possible loss of multiple lives.

Not necessarily very accurate. The ATCO has to take in all information available to decide what category of emergency to declare, it's not as simple as PAN PAN vs MAYDAY. Have a look in the MATS Part 1 (from the CAA website) for the options available to the aerodrome controller. Some places add their own categories too - mine certainly has.

I have personally opted for a full emergency before (attendance from airport and outside fire/police/ambulance, closing of roads, hospital on standby etc.) for a PAN PAN call - and also for a "we're not declaring an emergency but we'd like to come back as we seem to have a little problem" type call. The pilot's tone of voice can sometimes tell you more than the words. From an aerodrome controller's point of view it's always better to go higher if you're not sure. No-one will criticise you for that.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

The magic words are not always used. I've known a good number of occasions where a twin-engined aircraft has lost an engine or an aircraft (of any type) has reported hydraulic problems, both of which required a FULL EMERGENCY turn-out by the safety services, but the pilots have not called PAN or MAYDAY. Equally, MAYDAY is sometimes used when fuel is getting tight, possibly requiring a simple Local Standby by the AFS. As reportyourlevel notes, ATC decides the category of emergency.

Much like FZ I have received a PAN called unrelated to the aircraft making it.