Mayday (distress signal)

Mayday is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure communications, derived from the French m'aider. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency by many groups, such as police forces, pilots, the fire brigade, and transportation organizations. The call given three times (mayday, mayday, mayday...) in a row indicates significant danger (for example, a threat to life).

Origin of the word

M'aider is the infinitive form of the reflexive verb "help me" within French syntax; however, it is not used as a stand-alone imperative command in standard French, but it is so used in some French patois. This has led some etymologists to claim that what the convention really meant was an abbreviation of the phrase, "Venez m’aider" ("Come help me"). "M'aidez" (which is not grammatically correct either in standard French) is considered an acceptable alternative. In both cases, however, mayday must be considered as a rather crude English phonetic representation. It should be also noted that while in English the phrase is only used in distress situation, in French it carries no more sense of urgency than its English translation. What French people in distress actually shout is, "À l'aide!" or "Au secours!".

Mayday calls

A Mayday situation is one in which a vessel, aircraft, vehicle, or person is in grave and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance. Examples of "grave and imminent danger" in which a Mayday call would be appropriate are fire, explosion, or sinking.

'Mayday' calls are made by radio, such as a ship or aircraft's VHF radio. Although a Mayday call will be understood irrespective of the radio frequency on which it is broadcast, first-line response organisations, such as the coastguard and air traffic control, monitor designated channels: marine MF on 2182 kHz; marine VHF radio channel 16; and airband frequency 121.5 MHz, respectively. A Mayday call is the equivalent of a morse code SOS, or a telephone call to the emergency services.

When they receive a Mayday call the coastguard may launch lifeboats and helicopters to assist the ship that is in trouble. Other ships that are nearby may divert course to assist the vessel broadcasting the Mayday.

Making a hoax Mayday call is a criminal act in many countries because of the danger to the rescuers' lives that a search-and-rescue operation can create, as well as the very high costs of such rescue efforts. Making a false distress call in the U.S. is a federal crime carrying sanctions of up to six years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000^*.

The coastguard can be contacted in situations that are not emergencies (out of fuel, etc) by calling 'Coastguard, Coastguard, Coastguard, this is (name of vessel)', on VHF channel 16. In many countries, however, special training and a licence are required to use a VHF radio legally (anyone may legally use a VHF radio to summon help in an emergency).

If a Mayday call cannot be sent because a radio is not available a variety of other distress signals and calls for help can be used. A Mayday can be sent on behalf of one vessel by another, using a convention called a Mayday Relay (see below).

History

The Mayday callsign was originated in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford (1897-1962) ^*. Whilst senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London, Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the word "Mayday" from the French m'aidez.

Other urgent calls

Mayday is one of a number of words used internationally as radio code words to signal important information. Senders of urgency calls are entitled to interrupt messages of lower priority. As with Mayday the use of these terms without proper cause could render the user liable to civil and/or criminal charges.

Each of these urgency calls is usually repeated three times (eg "Pan-pan, Pan-pan, Pan-pan").

Mayday relay

A Mayday relay call is made by one vessel on behalf of a different vessel which is in distress. If a vessel makes a Mayday call and this is not acknowledged by the coastguard after a single repetition and a two-minute wait a vessel receiving the Mayday call should attempt to contact the coastguard on behalf of the Mayday vessel by broadcasting a Mayday Relay on their behalf.

A Mayday Relay call should use the callsign of the transmitting vessel but give the name and position of the Mayday vessel.

Mayday Relay calls can be used to summon help for a vessel which is either too far offshore to contact the coastguard directly or without radio capabilities.

Pan-pan

Pan-pan (from the French: panne - a breakdown) indicates an urgent situation of a lower order than a "grave and imminent threat requiring immediate assistance", such as a mechanical breakdown or a medical problem. The suffix medico is added to indicate a medical problem (Pan-Pan medico, repeated three times).

Securite

Securite (pronounced 'Say-cur-i-tay') (from French sécurité) indicates a message about safety, such as a hazard to navigation or weather information.

Silence

The following calls may be made only by the vessel in distress or the responding authority:

Seelonce Mayday or Seelonce Distress means that the channel may only be used by the vessel in distress and the coastguard (and any other vessels they ask for assistance in handling the emergency). The channel may not be used for normal working traffic until 'seelonce feenee' is broadcast.

The expressions Stop Transmitting - Distress and Stop Transmitting - Mayday are the aeronautical equivalents of Seelonce Mayday.

Seelonce Feenee (French: silence fini - silence finished) means that the emergency situation has been concluded and the channel may now be used normally. The word prudonce (prudence caution) can also be used to allow restricted working to resume on that channel.

Distress Traffic Ended is the aeronautical equivalent of seelonce feenee.

External links

Rescue | Wireless communications

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