Emergency radio procedures

[RodH]

Over the last few weeks I have been listening via u-tube to ATC /aircraft radio transmission during emergency situations . In almost every situation I heard very few pilots from US carriers use " mayday " or " pan " calls rather they say " we are declaring an emergency " . On the other hand most pilots from other countries almost all seem to use " Pan " or " mayday "
Is it an American thing not to use what I thought was a universal radio procedure for emergencies/ urgencies as set out below.



A Mayday radio call should be reserved for life threatening situations. These may include, but are not limited to:
◾Loss, or imminent loss of aircraft control for any number of different reasons

aircraft upset by turbulence;
pilot incapacitation;
spatial disorientation;
control surface or structural failure;
engine failure that will lead to a forced landing/ditching/ejection/bailout;
Pan-Pan-Pan

A Pan-Pan call should be used for urgent situations that are not immediately life threatening, but require assistance from someone on the ground. These include, but are not limited to:
◾Becoming lost;
◾A serious aircraft system failure, that requires an immediate route or altitude change;
◾Other emergencies that require immediate attention and assistance from the ground
If I recall correctly even during the A320 Hudson River event a mayday call was not used .
Obviously there a different procedure in the USA for these types of calls and I would like to hear comments from other Pilots about this.

[Airbubba]

If I recall correctly even during the A320 Hudson River event a mayday call was not used .

Oddly enough for Americans, they were so impressed by the double engine failure that they did do a Mayday call.

From the CVR transcript:

15:27:32.9 RDO-1 mayday mayday mayday. uh this is uh Cactus fifteen thirty nine hit birds, we've lost thrust (in/on) both engines we're turning back towards LaGuardia.

US Airways 1549 CVR Transcript (http://www.tailstrike.com/150109.htm)

Is there a different procedure in the USA for these types of calls ?

Yep, as you've noticed, we usually just say we're declaring an emergency, seems to work just fine. And we don't do them practice Pan calls.

Don't know how they do it overseas... ;)

[FLCH]

I'm sure someone will be along to say it's not technically correct. :)

I declared an emergency in UK airspace a while ago and didn't need to broadcast a mayday continually with each frequency change as the controllers were professional enough to pass it on to the next sector.

Same for the US too.

[beardy]

Just how did the other aircraft on your new frequency know that there was a mayday in progress?

[+TSRA]

The Aeronautical Information Manual and the Air Traffic Organization Policy in the US does have a requirement for either a MAYDAY or PAN PAN call...just as it does here in Canada. There is zero official reference I am aware of to "I am declaring an emergency."

However, just like here in Canada, Mayday is not used except in the most extreme situations and PAN PAN....almost never.

Personally, I think if it's in the book use it, but alas I am of a small minority.

Airbubba gives the link to US Air 1549...unfortunately, the ATC tapes did not pick up the Mayday call due to other traffic. Funny that it wasn't picked up even though saying it three times is meant to cover that very situation...

Now, too many people take the term "life threatening" for an emergency to mean they are going to die in the next 30 seconds. I've taught pilots who wouldn't use it for an onboard fire because they can still land, ergo not "life threatening." It has led some sim debriefs to end with an "agree to disagree."

Too many people won't say PAN PAN because they think it sounds stupid or otherwise don't want to say PAN six times. It could also be a "silly French thing," (panne) although so too is mayday (m'aider).

I'd be interested as well to know why pilots don't want to use the phrases as properly written. I know of a couple: "I didn't think it warranted it" or "this gets the same response" but that's not really a reason.

From a training perspective I've talked to a couple controllers who would prefer pilots to just use the proper phraseology as it reduces their workload and results in fewer calls to pilots during the emergency.

Very interesting.

[+TSRA]

FLCH,

That's why with each new sector you simply state "Mayday [callsign]" pr "PAN PAN [callsign] for your first R/T. The rest of the information will have been supplied down the phone.

I do remember that's written officially somewhere, but I can't remember right now. I'll try and find it here at the next stop.

[pattern_is_full]

We here in the States do have the advantage that the language of aviation (English) is also the mother tongue of both pilots and controllers, over a very wide region. Including our buddies to the North.

So either "Emergency" or "Mayday x 3" will be equally understood, immediately.

Of course, the same is true in Oz - but you have tighter ties to old Blighty, (where "the proper thing is always done"), and a little higher probability of working with overseas controllers on relatively short legs.

I sure understand why a rigorous consistency in phrasing is needed when you have Turks talking to Dutch in English (or any other combination you can dream up).

Then there is the "Right Stuff" factor, where "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!" just seems like making too big a fuss. Half your spacecraft explodes, and the call is, "Houston, uhh, we've had a problem."

"Cool and calm" is the cultural attitude - and we can get away with it (see paragraph 1).

[FLCH]

ust how did the other aircraft on your new frequency know that there was a mayday in progress?

Why would they care ?

[RodH]

+trsa . Thanks for the info re. there not being any " mayday " call heard from Cactus 1539 as it was blocked out by other users. I did not know that hence my stating what I heard on the ATC / aircraft audios.
FLCH I would have thought other users would care as it would allow emergency radio transmission to take precedent over other non urgent stuff. Most aviators would do their best to limit any calls whilst a " mayday " was in progress and they would only know that if they heard the prefix " mayday " on
first call as you so correctly describe.

[M.Mouse]

Why would they care ?

From the UK CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual:

1.12 Imposition of Silence

1.12.1 Transmissions from aircraft in distress have priority over all other transmissions. On hearing a distress call, all stations must maintain radio silence on that frequency unless the distress is cancelled or the distress traffic is terminated; all distress traffic has been transferred to other frequencies; the station controlling communications gives permission; it has itself to render assistance. Any station which has knowledge of distress traffic, and which cannot itself assist the station in distress, shall nevertheless continue listening to such traffic until it is evident that assistance is being provided. Stations should take care not to interfere with the transmission of urgency calls.

1.12.2 The aircraft in distress or the station in control of a distress incident may impose silence either on all stations in the area or on any particular station that interferes with distress transmissions. In either case, the message should take the following form:

All stations, Milthorpe Tower, stop transmitting. MAYDAY

or,

G-ABCD, stop transmitting. MAYDAY

1.12.3 The aeronautical station acknowledging a distress message on a particular frequency may consider it prudent to transfer other aircraft from that frequency in order to avoid any disruption of transmission from or to the emergency aircraft.

MAYDAY, G-BJRD, remain this frequency, Break, Break, all other aircraft contact Milthorpe Tower on 123.825, out.



But then being professional pilot you knew that didn't you?

[FLCH]

Well sir, I bow down to your superior airmanship, it was a Pan emergency and not that big a deal to me or anyone else involved at the time.

Observing CAP 413 was not on my priorities during the emergency, but I promise as a "semi professional" aviator to keep it in mind if I'm over your airspace again.

[Piltdown Man]

I think I'm also a gash amateur. When something went twang some while ago, ATC asked if we would like to declare and emergency. We said yes. Job done. Neither of us could see the reason to start saying "Mayday" as our plight had been fully understood by those who were in a position to help. But if ever I believed that I was not been treated seriously or that that I was not being helped in the way I desired, I'll give ATC both barrels of "Mayday".

[RodH]

Did you not post the following- "I declared an emergency in UK airspace a while ago and didn't need to broadcast a mayday continually with each frequency change as the controllers were professional enough to pass it on to the next sector." You used the term "mayday " so we all took it as that was what you did transmit but in your last post you say it was a " Pan " call.
There's a big difference so which one was it?

[MarkerInbound]

A few years back I was leaving Perth. An inbound flight checked in and Approach asked about their status so obviously some info had been passed ahead. They replied they had a passenger with a history of heart problems who was having breathing difficulties and an EMT on board said she needed to go to a hospital. They requested direct to the IAF and approach said they were number three for the airport and to maintain their routing. They replied with pan pan and were cleared direct to the IAF. I just shook my head.

[FLCH]

My apologies Rod it was a Pan, sorry for the confusion.

[zonoma]

MarkerInbound, why did you shake your head? Looks to me that the controller did exactly what they have to do, not give priority until an emergency is officially declared. It sifts out those that really need it from those that have got themselves into a "tight spot".......

[G0ULI]

Ideally Mayday and Pan calls are made and all traffic conducted on 121.5 MHz, the international aviation distress frequency. However, if an aircraft is already in contact with a ground station an emergency can be declared directly to the station the aircraft is in contact with if that is easier for the crew. It is then the responsibility of the ground station to advise other aircraft of the emergency and request they change to another frequency or cease transmissions for the duration of the event.

Mayday and Pan calls should strictly speaking only be made on the international distress frequency 121.5 and are intended as an open transmission requesting assistance from all and any stations receiving the broadcast.

This doesn't apply if you are already talking to ATC or the control tower somewhere, so simply stating that you are declaring an emergency is usually sufficient (even in the local language if that makes communications clearer). Sometimes you will be asked if you are declaring a Pan or a Mayday which are trigger words allowing an airport controller to determine and activate the appropriate level of emergency response.

Basically in a real emergency you are permitted to communicate by whatever means possible, on whatever frequency you can, so long as the nature of the emergency and the intentions of the aircraft commander are made clear to those on the ground.

Learned all this over 40 years ago when aircraft still carried radio officers. Aircraft today are much more likely to declare an emergency on whatever frequency the radio happens to be tuned to at the time, especially if the pilot(s) are busy trying to sort problems out.

[Two's in]

A very quick trawl of accident reports will show multiple occasions where the ATC or radar facility did not realize the aircraft concerned was declaring an emergency because they failed to use the standardized phraseology. This is particularly prevalent around fuel emergencies, where the crew are reluctant to use the M or P word in some vain hope that the indiscretion won't make it back to the company. As a consequence in some cases they did not receive optimum vectoring or routing which exacerbated an already dangerous situation. It's just as easy to downgrade or cancel an emergency call as it is to make it in the first place.

[+TSRA]

Mayday and Pan calls should strictly speaking only be made on the international distress frequency 121.5 and are intended as an open transmission requesting assistance from all and any stations receiving the broadcast.

Negative...but then you go on to make the correct point.

The guidance is to do it on whatever frequency you are on - not to make the switch. If you're not in contact with anyone, then do it on 121.5.

Half your spacecraft explodes, and the call is, "Houston, uhh, we've had a problem."

It would be interesting to find out if NASA had thought to create proper R/T for an emergency in space where no other traffic existed at the time. Otherwise, I have a feeling those same astronauts would have done "the right thing" and used proper vocabulary. Having met a number of astronauts, it's amazing to see that they're all "by the book." So if we idolize their coolness, should we not also strive to their level of perfection?

Why would they care ?

Not only because of radio silence, but take a listen to the ATC Tapes following the Asiana crash at KSFO. There is Tower trying to communicate with emergency services while every damned aircraft out to 12 final is stating they are going around and what they are going to do and who they are going to talk to...not even a grain of common sense amongst them. You hear Mayday or PAN-PAN on the radio and realize that your request for direct the FAF is suddenly not the most important thing in the world...or that maybe Tower doesn't care that you're going around because that's what they expect you are going to do as a professional aviator.

A very quick trawl of accident reports will show multiple occasions where the ATC or radar facility did not realize the aircraft concerned was declaring an emergency because they failed to use the standardized phraseology

Exactly. Why take all the time of the guess work that leads to "are you declaring an emergency?" "yes, we are declaring an emergency!" "check, [callsign] declaring an emergency, state POB, fuel on board, dangerous goods and intentions" when a proper "Mayday" call will cover all of that in a quarter of the time (and distance, and fuel, and, and, and)

[RodH]

Well put +TRSA. I totally agree with you. It's a pity the mods have shifted this topic that is quite important to " questions ".
In the main forum I have counted 4 questions on the first page and they did not get shifted.
Maybe if I change the wording from " is there a different procedure " to " obviously there is a different procedure" and I would like to hear what other pilots think.
That's then not a question so maybe it will go back where it should be for all pilots to comment on!!!

[+TSRA]

I thought this had been moved (and a couple posts removed)...

[RodH]

I has been moved from " Flight Deck Forums " Rumours and News to " questions. It's a shame as it is a fairly topical subject for those of us who are not USA pilots.

[galaxy flyer]

A Mayday radio call should be reserved for life threatening situations. These may include, but are not limited to:
◾Loss, or imminent loss of aircraft control for any number of different reasons

aircraft upset by turbulence;
pilot incapacitation;
spatial disorientation;
control surface or structural failure;
engine failure that will lead to a forced landing/ditching/ejection/bailout;


I've always wondered exactly what ATC was supposed to do, or were capable of doing to assist the crew or fix the situation? They're not going to join the crew, after all. So, unless the pilot needs traffic priority or the fire brigade, what's the point?

GF

[+TSRA]

They're not going to join the crew, after all

But they already are. They're as much a part of the "crew" as the flight attendants or dispatchers.

You're right though: Who knows what type information they can give you, if any.

But I know of one IFR controller in my area who is an ex-airline pilot...he can hold a Class 2 Medical but not the Class 1...so why don't I think he could bring me something over his 10,000 or so hours in the air?

[G0ULI]

GF
The point is to coordinate an appropriate response by emergency services and offer advice as required.

The quicker emergency responders can arrive on the scene of an incident, the more chance there is of crew and passenger survival or reduction of collateral damage on the ground.

I agree, sometimes events overtake the need to even bother with a call. Aviate, navigate, communicate, in that order. :rolleyes:

[MarkerInbound]

MarkerInbound, why did you shake your head? Looks to me that the controller did exactly what they have to do, not give priority until an emergency is officially declared. It sifts out those that really need it from those that have got themselves into a "tight spot".......

Because the purpose of the radio to communicate. The inbound flight told ATC they have a person aboard who needs transport to a hospital. Both parties being native English speakers, I'm sure ATC understood the situation. Yet he wouldn't do anything until the magic code words were spoken.

And the FAA AIM says:

6-3-1 Distress and Urgency Communications

a. A person who encounters a distress or urgency condition can obtain assistance simply by contacting the air traffic facility or other agency in whose area of responsibility the aircraft is operating, stating the nature of the difficulty, pilot's intentions and assistance desired. Distress and urgency communications procedures are prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), however, and have decided advantages over the informal procedures described above.

[de facto]

I declared an emergency in UK airspace a while ago and didn't need to broadcast a mayday continually with each frequency change as the controllers were professional enough to pass it on to the next sector.

Could be that the squawk you must have dialed helped a lot.:E

[+TSRA]

I'm sure ATC understood the situation. Yet he wouldn't do anything until the magic code words were spoken.


Just because they're both native speakers does not guarantee that both fully understand a situation. Take, for example, the phrase "minimum fuel." Both pilots and ATC understand what this means, but saying it does not confer special priority on its own. The pilot may be running on fumes nd considering his or her life choices, but to the controller you're just one of 30 holding west of New York. Now, put a Mayday or Pan-Pan at the beginning and that means something vastly different to the controller.

That is why the below line in the FAA AIM is the last sentence in its paragraph.

Distress and urgency communications procedures are prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), however, and have decided advantages over the informal procedures described above.

[B737900er]

US radio telecommunication to ATC is absolute shocking. For example United XXX maintaining Flight level 37 OHHHHH since when was 'O' a number?

Its not hard to understand, if its not a emergency but there is urgency to the situation, then PAN is used.