Mayday and Pan-Pan, the Two Radio Calls That Tell a Controller Exactly How Much Trouble You're In

Mayday signals distress - a serious, immediate danger requiring immediate assistance, like an engine failure or uncontrollable fire. Pan-Pan signals urgency - a serious problem that concerns safety but does not require immediate help, like a rough-running engine still making power. Both calls are spoken three times at the start, and choosing the right one tells a controller exactly how much trouble you’re in.

Most pilot training spends hours teaching you to sound smooth when everything is fine, and almost no time on what to say when it isn’t. This is the call you hope you never make - which is exactly why it’s worth rehearsing until the words come out clean under pressure.

What’s the difference between Mayday and Pan-Pan?

There are three levels of radio communication. The normal level is everything you do every day. Above that sits urgency, and at the top sits distress.

Distress is a condition of being threatened by serious or imminent danger, requiring immediate assistance. That’s Mayday. The airplane or the people in it are in real, right-now trouble: engine failure, an uncontrollable fire, structural failure. You’re going down and you need everything the system can throw at you.

Urgency is a step below. It’s a condition concerning the safety of the aircraft or a person on board that does not require immediate assistance. That’s Pan-Pan. Something is wrong and it has your full attention, but you are not falling out of the sky in the next ninety seconds - a lost electrical system in day visual conditions, a rough engine still making power, or a passenger having a medical event while you fly a stable airplane.

The simplest way to hold the two apart: Mayday means “I am in danger right now.” Pan-Pan means “I have a problem that could become danger, and I want you to know before it does.”

Where do the words Mayday and Pan-Pan come from?

Both come from French, and both were invented so pilots could be understood across a language barrier.

Mayday traces to around 1923, when a senior officer at Croydon Airport near London was asked to create a distress word that British and French crews flying the Channel would both understand. He chose the French phrase venez m’aider - “come help me.” Say the tail end aloud: m’aider becomes Mayday.

Pan-Pan comes from the French word panne, meaning a breakdown or failure. Your airplane has had a breakdown, but it hasn’t yet become a catastrophe.

How do you actually make the call?

Both calls open with the signal word spoken three times - Mayday, Mayday, Mayday or Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan. Saying it three times cuts through a busy frequency, grabs the controller’s attention, and ensures that a garbled first word or someone stepping on you doesn’t cost you the whole message.

After the three words, follow a fixed format worth memorizing, because your brain will be busy flying the airplane:

1. Who you’re calling
2. Who you are
3. Where you are
4. What’s wrong
5. What you want

Here’s a Mayday example. You’re in a Cessna 172 at 3,000 feet on a cross-country when you suffer a total engine failure. You’ve already pushed the nose over to best glide, picked a field, and run the flow. Then you key up:

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Denver Center, Skyhawk Two Four Bravo, engine failure, eight miles south of the Kiowa VOR, three thousand feet descending, four souls on board, three hours of fuel, going down in a field to the south, requesting emergency assistance.

Notice souls on board and fuel remaining. Those aren’t decoration. Controllers want souls on board so search and rescue knows how many people to look for, and fuel because it tells them how long you can stay airborne and how big the fire risk is. Volunteer both if you have the moment.

Now the same airplane and day as a Pan-Pan. The engine didn’t quit - it’s running rough with a partial power loss, but it’s still pulling and you’re barely holding altitude. You want to get down soon and you want the system watching you:

Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan. Denver Center, Skyhawk Two Four Bravo, eight miles south of Kiowa, three thousand five hundred, experiencing a partial engine failure, request vectors to the nearest airport and priority handling.

Same problem family, very different level. One says “I am going down.” The other says “I have a problem and I want help before it becomes the first one.”

Which call should I make if I’m not sure?

When in doubt, go up, not down - declare the higher level. No one has ever been violated for calling Mayday when Pan-Pan might have done. The regulations, the controllers, and the whole system would rather you over-declare and be fine than under-declare and become a smoking hole. If you’re unsure, it’s a Mayday.

What happens after I declare?

The moment you declare, you become the single most important airplane on that frequency. The controller gives you priority, starts clearing other traffic out of your way, and begins asking questions: souls on board, fuel remaining, nature of the emergency, your intentions.

Here’s the part pilots forget: you do not have to answer any of it right now. If you’re hand-flying a crippled airplane toward a field, you’re allowed to say “standby” - or simply not answer for a moment.

Aviate, navigate, communicate - always in that order. The radio is the last of the three, not the first. A controller cannot fly your airplane, and no amount of talking helps if you stall it trying to key the mic. The most common mistake isn’t saying the wrong words; it’s reaching for the radio before the airplane is under control. Fly the airplane first. Then talk.

Do I have to be talking to a controller already to declare?

No. If you’re flying VFR and not talking to anyone when something goes wrong, you can declare on whatever frequency you’re on, or switch to the emergency frequency, 121.5. That frequency is guarded - monitored across the country by air traffic facilities and airliners overhead. If you can’t raise anyone else, key up on 121.5 and make your call.

Will declaring an emergency bury me in paperwork?

This fear keeps pilots from declaring when they should. Under Federal Aviation Regulation 91.123, a pilot in command who deviates from a rule to handle an emergency may be asked by the FAA to submit a written report. May. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they never ask.

Even if they do, a written report is a piece of paper - not a hearing, not a suspension. Never let the fear of a form talk you out of the help that keeps you alive. The paperwork is survivable. The alternative is not.

What about the transponder?

If you have a free hand, squawk 7700, the emergency code. Those four sevens light you up on every radar scope in range and will often get a controller talking to you before you finish your call. But the same rule applies: fly first. The squawk is a nice-to-have, not the main event.

Where does this fit in your checkride?

Emergency operations is a named area of operation in the private pilot Airman Certification Standards (ACS). The examiner wants to see you recognize an emergency, fly the airplane through it, and know the appropriate procedures - including the radio call and the transponder code.

When the examiner pulls the throttle to idle, they’re watching your hands and eyes first: airspeed for best glide, a field, the flow. But somewhere in that flow, they want to hear the call - Mayday, Mayday, Mayday - and the squawk. Say it out loud even in the simulator or the practice area, because the words only come out clean under pressure if you’ve said them a hundred times without any.

How do I practice the emergency call?

Practice it the same way you practice steep turns: out loud, repeatedly, when it’s cheap and safe. Here’s a simple drill - next time you’re driving, pick a fake emergency (engine fire, electrical failure, rough engine) and say the whole call out loud in the car:

• Who you’re calling
• Who you are
• Where you are
• What’s wrong
• What you want

Do it enough times and the format becomes automatic - and automatic is exactly what you want when the real thing shows up uninvited.

Finally, remember there’s no shame in either call. Reaching for the mic and saying Pan-Pan doesn’t mean you failed as a pilot; it means you caught a problem early and used the system the way it was designed. Helping you is literally the controller’s job. The worst outcome isn’t a Pan-Pan that turned out minor - it’s the pilot who stayed quiet, tried to sort it out alone, and ran out of options with nobody watching.

Key Takeaways

• Mayday signals distress (immediate, serious danger); Pan-Pan signals urgency (a serious problem that isn’t yet an immediate danger). Each is spoken three times.
• Use the format: who you’re calling, who you are, where you are, what’s wrong, and what you want - and volunteer souls on board and fuel remaining.
• When in doubt, declare the higher level. No pilot has been violated for calling Mayday unnecessarily.
• Aviate, navigate, communicate - fly the airplane before touching the radio; you can say “standby” to a controller’s questions.
• You can declare on any frequency or on 121.5, squawk 7700 if able, and the FAA rarely requests the written report that FAR 91.123 permits.