pan-pan
Pilot's distress call
Pan-pan is an international radio distress signal indicating an urgent situation that is not immediately life-threatening.
It ranks below mayday, which signals imminent danger, but above routine communications and demands priority attention from vessels and rescue services.
The term is spoken three times in succession: Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan, this is sailing vessel Artemis requesting medical advice.
It derives from the French word *panne*, meaning breakdown.
mayday
Radio emergency signal
- urgencyPressing need for action
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
- radioElectromagnetic wave receiver
pilot · aircraft · cockpit · transponder · squawk · emergency · declare · frequency · communication · flight
- Radio Codesalpha, bravo, delta, echo, foxtrot
- radio lingoroger, copy, over, out, 10-4
- aviation radioVHF radio, copy, over, out, negative
- Aviation Slangroger, mayday, squawk, affirmative, negative
- Marine RadioVHF radio, mayday call, distress call, radiotelephone, hailing
- nautical signalssignal flag, signal flags, golf flag, semaphore, substitutes