Kathmandu. Nowadays, air travel is expanding rapidly in the world. Every passenger wants a safe journey. Most of these trips are safe.
However, there is a 1 percent chance of unforeseen situations occurring during the flight. For this, the pilot may have to declare an emergency during the flight. Flight pilots and cabin crew are trained to handle almost any type of emergency. They communicate their messages to others through radio messages using certain code words. One such code word is the ‘PAN-PAN’ call.
Aviation Industry Terminology
There are certain terminologies in the aviation industry, which are used in times of need. One such word is the call ‘PAN-PAN’. This call is a radio distress signal. Which indicates the immediate situation. The caller needs immediate attention. However, this call indicates that the caller is in an emergency, but no one’s life is in danger.
{{TAG_OPEN_strong_30}What is a pan?
It comes from the French word ‘pain’ (breakdown). It is used for problems such as technical faults or minor medical emergencies. A more serious call is ‘mayday’. Compared to Mayday, PAN-PAN notifies air traffic control to prioritize this flight without passing a full emergency protocol. This ensures quick support in non-critical events and maintains peace and control over the environment.
What does PAN indicate?
Suppose you were the captain of a ship. Your ship is in the middle of the sea. It turns out that the ship’s engine has suddenly stopped working. It’s a situation where no one’s life is in danger or the ship is sinking. What do you do? You need help but not emergency rescue. In that case, you don’t say ‘mayday’. Instead, you will use a different call: ‘PAN-PAN-PAN’.
When is used?
PAN is a special radio call. When the situation is serious, life is not unsafe. By making this call, the captain tells others that they need help. However, this is not a complete emergency.
Where is it used?
PAN is used by ships, aircraft and other vehicles to alert nearby stations or crews. The clarity and authoritative status of the PAN can be emphasized by the fact that the ‘PAN-PAN’ is repeated three times during the call. –Agency
