When Things Go Wrong

It should be obvious that we never say the words, Declare, Emergency, Mayday, or Pan-Pan unless we indeed have a dire situation. These words have the potential to flip a controllers airspace upside down faster than a Vmc roll, so they should be used with discretion. Even saying Declare by itself could lead us to believe that assistance is needed, as well as Pan-Pan (Urgent condition). Because Pan-Pan is considered an urgent condition (maybe not a full-blown emergency), it has the potential to turn into Mayday (Distress) so we mostly treat it as such.

Elim Hawkins

Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

ATC's emergency protocol reverses the pilot's "aviate, navigate, communicate" by first communicating with the pilot to assess needs, then navigating other traffic, and finally allowing the pilot to aviate to safety.
Key words like "Declare," "Emergency," "Mayday," or "Pan-Pan" trigger immediate and comprehensive ATC checklists and assistance, but pilots are encouraged to communicate any problems, however minor, without hesitation, as ATC can declare for them.
ATC is extensively trained to handle a wide range of emergencies, from mechanical failures to VFR into IMC and hypoxia, and will utilize all resources to ensure the safest possible outcome for the distressed aircraft.
Pilots should not hesitate to leverage ATC's emergency services, as they are a crucial part of Crew Resource Management and will prioritize the safety of the emergency aircraft, rarely requiring extensive paperwork.

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Every single emergency procedure you can imagine should follow the basic outline of “aviate, navigate, communicate” on the pilot’s side of things, but what does ATC do? It’s actually kind of backwards. We communicate with you first to find out what you might need, then we navigate other conflicting airplanes out of your way so that you can aviate to a safe runway or landing site.

It should be obvious that we never say the words, “Declare,” “Emergency,” “Mayday,” or “Pan-Pan” unless we indeed have a dire situation. These words have the potential to flip a controller’s airspace upside down faster than a Vmc roll, so they should be used with discretion. Even saying “Declare” by itself could lead us to believe that assistance is needed, as well as “Pan-Pan” (Urgent condition). Because Pan-Pan is considered an urgent condition (maybe not a full-blown emergency), it has the potential to turn into “Mayday” (Distress) so we mostly treat it as such.