WEBVTT - Why Is 'Mayday' the International Distress Call?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. Lauren vogelbom here. May Day is an international

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<v Speaker 1>distress call used by airplane pilots, boat captains, and some

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<v Speaker 1>emergency response personnel. The U S. Coast Guard deals with

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<v Speaker 1>roughly twenty five thousand distress calls every year, some of

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<v Speaker 1>which involved the may Day code. The signal arose just

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<v Speaker 1>after World War One, as air traffic between Britain and

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<v Speaker 1>mainland Europe increased dramatically. All nearby nations needed an internationally

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<v Speaker 1>understood signal that would alert authorities to urgent aircraft problems.

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<v Speaker 1>So why not just use the standard s OS call

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<v Speaker 1>that navy captains used when they were in trouble. Well

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<v Speaker 1>Ships communicated through telegraph using Morse code, and this technology

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<v Speaker 1>made s O s of three dots, three dashes and

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<v Speaker 1>three dots unmistakable. By contrast, aircraft pilots used radio calls,

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<v Speaker 1>and s OS, owing to its consonants, could be misheard

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<v Speaker 1>as other letters like F one. Frederick Stanley Mockford, a

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<v Speaker 1>senior radio officer in London, was put in charge of

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<v Speaker 1>finding an appropriate code word. He reasoned that because so

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<v Speaker 1>much of the air traffic flew between Croydon, England and Paris, France,

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<v Speaker 1>it might make sense to use a derivative of a

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<v Speaker 1>French word. He came up with may Day, based on

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<v Speaker 1>the French pronunciation of maydie or help me, which itself

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<v Speaker 1>is a distilled version of la madie or come help me.

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<v Speaker 1>The US formally adopted may day as a distress signal

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<v Speaker 1>in due to radio interference and loud ambient noise. Pilots

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<v Speaker 1>are told to repeat the word three times when they

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<v Speaker 1>use the call. This repetition also serves to distinguish the

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<v Speaker 1>transmission from others that simply refer to the Mayday call,

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<v Speaker 1>although any situation in which it's being used is probably

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<v Speaker 1>a little panic filled. The Federal Aviation Administration encourages pilots

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<v Speaker 1>to offer specific information in a specific order so that

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<v Speaker 1>emergency responds knew exactly what they're dealing with. First, they're

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<v Speaker 1>told to repeat the word made a three times, then

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<v Speaker 1>the stage in address, the aircraft call sign and type,

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<v Speaker 1>the kind of emergency, the weather, the pilot's intentions, the

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<v Speaker 1>current position and heading, the altitude, the fuel remaining in minutes,

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<v Speaker 1>the number of people on board, and finally, any other

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<v Speaker 1>pertinent details given its importance. Most people respect the may

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<v Speaker 1>day's signal and use it only when absolutely necessary, but sadly,

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<v Speaker 1>the Coast Guard occasionally deals with hoax calls, owing in

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<v Speaker 1>large part due to the virtually untraceable VHF radio signals

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<v Speaker 1>it uses to receive distress signals. As a result, hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of thousands of dollars and countless man hours may be

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<v Speaker 1>wasted trying to rescue people who were never in danger.

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<v Speaker 1>People who have used this system can be jailed for

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<v Speaker 1>up to ten years and find two hundred and fifty

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars. But there are other distress calls that operators

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<v Speaker 1>can use when a situation isn't life threatening. The call

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<v Speaker 1>pan PAN means that you have an urgent situation that's

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<v Speaker 1>not immediately putting lives at risk of For instance, if

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<v Speaker 1>your boat ran out of fuel, then do you need assistance?

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Nathan Chandler and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang. For more than this and lots of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production

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