Mayday Calls
Making a false distress call in the United States is a federal crime carrying sanctions of up to six years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000.
If a mayday call cannot be sent because a radio is not available a variety of other distress signals and calls for help can be used. A mayday can be sent on behalf of one vessel by another, using a convention called a mayday relay (see below).
Civilian aircraft making a mayday call in United States airspace are encouraged to use the following format (omitting any portions as necessary for expediency or where they are irrelevant):
MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY; (Name of station addressed); Aircraft callsign and type; Nature of emergency; Weather; Pilot's intentions and/or requests; Present position and heading, or if lost then last known position and heading and time when aircraft was at that position; Altitude or Flight level; Fuel remaining in minutes; Number of souls on board; Any other useful information.Read more about this topic: Mayday
Famous quotes containing the word calls:
“And there is nothing in the eye,
Shut shutter of the mineral man
Who takes the fatherless dark to bed,
The acid sky to the brain-pan;
And calls the crows to peck his head.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)