mayday
MAY-day
/ˈmeɪ.deɪ/
An international radio distress signal used by ships and aircraft experiencing life-threatening emergencies.
Must be spoken three times in succession ('Mayday, Mayday, Mayday') to declare a life-threatening priority distress.
The story behind the word. Invented in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford, senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He was asked to devise an easily understood radio call during heavy English Channel air traffic. He derived it from French 'm'aider' (a shortened form of 'venez m'aider', meaning 'come help me').
Word relationships
- SOS: SOS is traditional Morse code (· · · — — — · · ·), whereas Mayday is the spoken voice emergency transmission.
- securite: Securite is a radio call used for safety navigation warnings rather than life-threatening emergencies.
Commonly confused with
- pan-pan: Pan-pan signifies an urgent situation that is NOT an immediate threat to human life; Mayday signifies grave and immediate danger to life.
Word family
- mayday (noun): The distress signal itself.
Collocations
- issue a mayday
- mayday call
- broadcast a mayday
Example sentences
- "The pilot declared a Mayday after experiencing catastrophic engine failure over the ocean." Transatlantic flight radio log
Memory hook
MAYDAY = 'M'AIDER' (French for HELP ME!). Universal voice call for extreme peril.
When not to use
Do not confuse with May Day (the spring holiday or labor day on May 1st). Never say it as a joke on VHF radio.
Fun facts
- Making a false Mayday call on maritime radio is a federal crime punishable by up to six years in prison and heavy fines.
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