Skip to content

4. Distress & Urgency Messages

4.1 General mayday procedures

From time to time, aircraft may request to simulate emergencies. As a controller, you have the discretion to approve or deny these requests based on traffic levels, workload, and your experience.

  • Distress Messages: The word “MAYDAY” spoken at the beginning of a transmission identifies a distress situation.
  • Urgency Messages: The word “PAN PAN” spoken at the start of a transmission identifies an urgency situation.

Ideally, “MAYDAY” or “PAN PAN” should be spoken three times at the start of the initial distress or urgency call.

4.1.1 Transmission Priorities

  1. Distress messages take priority over all other transmissions.
  2. Urgency messages take priority over all transmissions except distress messages.

Controllers should adjust phraseology and procedures as necessary, considering their specific operational needs and the time available.

4.1.2 Elements of a Distress Message

A distress message should include as many of the following elements as possible, ideally in the order shown:

  1. Aircraft identification
  2. Nature of the emergency
  3. Pilot’s intentions
  4. Position, heading, and altitude
  5. Any other pertinent information

Example

Pilot: "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, DOHA RADAR, BRITISH AIRWAYS 1 2 3, LEFT ENGINE FAILURE, REQUEST TO LAND AT HAMAD, 10 MILES NORTH EAST OF HAMAD AIRPORT, ALTITUDE 8,000 FEET."

Controller: "BRITISH AIRWAYS 1 2 3, MAYDAY ACKNOWLEDGED, TURN LEFT HEADING 210 DEGREES, DESCEND TO ALTITUDE 2,500 FEET."

Pilot: "TURN LEFT HEADING 210 DEGREES, DESCEND TO ALTITUDE 2,500 FEET, BRITISH AIRWAYS 1 2 3."