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What do pilots say when crashing?

A pilot who encounters a Distress condition should declare an emergency by beginning the initial communication with the word “Mayday,” preferably repeated three times.



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The term 'Mayday' originates from the French phrase 'm'aider' which means 'help me'. It was first adopted as a distress signal for aviation in the early 1920s. The credit for its implementation goes to Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at London's Croydon Airport.

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They are Highly Experienced Well, first of all, they are highly trained professionals. They have years of experience and know exactly what to do in any given situation. This experience helps them to remain calm under pressure.

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The ICAO Phonetic Alphabet is meant to decrease risk and misunderstanding and improve communication between those involved in air travel. Many letters and phrases sound too similar, for example, the letters “p” and “b” may sound the same over the radio. So instead, pilots would say “papa” or “bravo”.

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The most important are: (1) visual signals, such as a flame, a red flare, an orange smoke signal, or a square flag displayed with a ball below; (2) sound signals, such as a gun or rocket fired at regular intervals, or a continuous sounding of a fog-signal apparatus; and (3) radio signals such as the Morse group SOS, ...

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It had come back from the brink of one nose dive when the fatalsecond descent began, a plunge of 18,000 feet in 75 seconds intothe Pacific Ocean. “Ah, here we go” were pilot Thompson's last words.

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Once the crew completes the pre-flight gear inspection, it's time to ignite the engine and take to the sky. These days however, it's much more common to hear pilots announce that the plane is “cleared for takeoff” — particularly on commercial flights — for the sake of brevity.

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The callout from the pilots like LOC blue serves to remind themselves of the current flight guidance modes, and to maintain awareness of mode changes. This is also to ensure that their mental idea of what the aircraft will do next is up to date and fits to the current flight situation.

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Fox is short for foxtrot, the NATO phonetic designation for the letter F, which is short for fire. The radio call announcing that a weapon has been fired is intended to help avoid friendly fire, alerting other pilots to avoid maneuvering into the path of the munition.

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Women pilots were also formerly called aviatrices (singular aviatrix). Women have been flying powered aircraft since 1908; prior to 1970, however, most were restricted to working privately or in support roles in the aviation industry. Aviation also allowed women to travel alone on unprecedented journeys.

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The phrase five by five can be used informally to mean good signal strength or loud and clear. An early example of this phrase was in 1946, recounting a wartime conversation.

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This goes back to the old faithful of using sir and ma'am when addressing someone. If the pilot is male, saying thank you, sir is perfectly acceptable. Conversely, if they're a female, then a nice thank you, ma'am is commonplace.

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