“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!”
Hollywood lovers would often hear Air Force pilots scream these words when hit by an enemy ballistic. When giant waves or aquatic cyborgs from the future rock a boat or ship mid-sea, the captain's immediate dialogue (which could well be his last) could be no different...
Ask any pilot you know, and they would vouch that having to repeat the M-word thrice when airborne is something they want to avoid until their flying days come to a close.
"Mayday" is an internationally acknowledged distress signal for aviators and mariners and has been for over a century. Before you wonder—no, it is absolutely unrelated to Labour Day (May Day/May 1) celebrations. In the world of aviation, "Mayday" derives from the French phrase 'm’aider', which loosely means “come and help me.” The credit for coining the term goes to Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio operator at Croydon Airport in London.
In 1923, Mockford was assigned to come up with a word that would indicate distress and be easily understood by any pilots or ground staff during an emergency. Reports indicate that he prioritized a French phrase because nearly all air traffic from Croydon Airport at the time was with Le Bourget in France. It was easy for both English and French pilots to say and fast.
Before Stanley Mockford's suggestion, the Morse code signal "SOS" was used to signal a distress call. However, officials found it unsuitable for voice communication due to the difficulty of distinguishing the letter 'S' by telephone—a Times report from February 1927 stated, according to Wikipedia. Later that year, the International Radiotelegraph Convention held in Washington, D.C., adopted "Mayday" as the radiotelephone distress call in addition to the "SOS" signal.
When would a pilot call Mayday?
Mayday calls are reserved for emergencies only. Even if the cockpit intends to say, "We have a problem; it may become an emergency if it isn’t resolved soon," they need to use the "Pan" call and not Mayday, reports show. If an airborne pilot signals a Mayday, he or she gets priority over all other radio traffic. A Yorkshire museum report stated that other aircraft may relay the transmissions if the pilot is out of range of ground stations—known as a Mayday relay.
There is an international emergency frequency for transmitting a Mayday call. Using 121.5 MHz, any pilot can transmit Mayday on any aerodrome or air traffic frequency. In case the pilot faces uncertainty, calling on 121.5 MHz will always ensure a response, as this frequency is monitored globally year-round.
Why do pilots say Mayday three times?
Again, this is simple logic from the time when radio was the primary means of communication, and weak signals were a major concern. When "Mayday" is repeated three times, it becomes a distinctive phrase easily heard and not confused with other transmissions or interference. In case two pilots aired a Mayday call, repeating it three times could avoid confusing them with each other over the radio. Communication mediums and aviation security have improved over the decades, but the three-time repeat stuck.
The three Maydays are then supposed to be followed by important details—call sign, location, and altitude of the flight, nature of the emergency, number of people aboard, particular requests if any, and any other useful information—so that rescue units can act accordingly. If the pilots have lost track of such information, they are expected to share their last known location and altitude, reports point out.
Ahmedabad air tragedy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ahmedabad on Friday and visited the site where Air India's London-bound flight AI171 crashed. He also visited the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and met the injured undergoing treatment.
The crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight claimed the lives of 241 onboard, including 12 crew members on Thursday. The flight rammed into BJ Medical College hostel, killing four medical students and the spouse of a doctor at the accommodation. The flight was en route to London Gatwick crashed merely a minute after taking to the air, at around 1.30pm on Thursday.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu. said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a formal investigation into the cause of the incident. Experts from the US and the UK will be assisting India in the probe.
