When a plane is in trouble, why do pilots say May Day and what does it mean?

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It's a corruption of the French m'aidez which translates into English as 'help me' and sounds like may day.

choccy_002

It comes from the French - M'aidez- 'help me', pronounced 'mayday'.

Ryan D

Mayday (from the French phrase M'aidez', meaning help me is used when a pilot is in a emergency situation and requires immediate assistance. Pan Pan (from the French 'panne', meaning breakdown, is the next lower in severity of distress calls meaning that were not in an emergency right now but if we don't get help soon, we will be.

Mayday or pan pan is repeated 3 times in an emergency call. That pilot then gets priority airspace and/or landing privileges immediately and can get help from Air Traffic Control to try and land the plane safely.

BMguzhie

It's from the French m'aider, which means help me

spanker

may day is in fact a mutation of the French phrase m'aidez - roughly translated as help me, and is used the world over for distress calling.

Emma

yeah it is french and means i am in trouble or something like that... they also use pan pan for medical emergencies, i know that from a film i watched last night !

It is an internationally recognised emergency codeword derived from the french word M'aider used to signal a life threatening emergency but many groups including pilots, police force, fire brigade.

something new

I think its french, me aidez or something meaning help me.

My cut-and-paste answer is as follows:

mayday - 'distress call,' 1927, from Fr. m'aider, shortening of venez m'aider 'come help me!'
www.geocities.com/etymonline/m2etym.ht...

'Mayday' is the internationally recognized voice radio signal for ships and people in serious trouble at sea. Made official in 1948, it is an anglicizing of the French m'aidez, 'help me'.
www.nautilus571.com/naval_terms.htm

Jan 09 03, 2:53 AM

apparently it come from the french m'aidez, meaning help me
you live and learn

Jon

i agree with everyone

annabel m

it means the pilots would like to celebrate a public holiday commemorating solidarity with the working class, rather than being five miles up in a broken flying machine

it's from the FRENCH M'Aider but it means help me in French. and we just spelled it as we heard it. and so we spelled it may day.
it's easier for the French to yell M'aider than Venez M'Aider...I mean if you're in distress..would you take the time to yell out that? nope. so that's why it's M'Aider. easy. short. quick. to the point. and understood to whoever hears it.

Michael C

it is a general distress call, and is an angliscised version of the french m'aider, which means "help me"

kaz

may day is the international distress call it just means that the plane is in difficulties.

bcmb1234

as every one i ssaying it comes from the french word but they shout may day and brace in ebglish because it is easier for everyone to understand the english talk quietly so when we shout people know ther is something wrong the french and german shout when they are speaking so if they shouted emergency in their language us english would not know what it meant

jampetpaul

It's from the french m'aider as in 'help me'

Andy

french equiv of Save
Our
Souls

theashtrayisfull

Dear all,
I am convinced that it is from the french m'aider, but there is nothing in french called m'aider alone(!) .... one person said something about venez m'aider, and that is correct becos it translates as come help me.... but m'aider alone is not really a spoken expression in french.... pls dont throw tomatoes at me, im not trying to be smart.... cheers

Will

Did you know also that the call should always be given three times in a row ("Mayday Mayday Mayday"). This is to avoid misheard calls being taken as emergencies and also so that calls discussing a mayday signal can say the word "Mayday" without fear of being taken for a real emergency.

This is much the same as the whistle blowing signals used when out in the hills where multiple whistles are used to avoid misinterpretation for other sounds like the wind.

An alternative theory behind the term is that the word "mayday" was first used on May 1st, 1927. It was used when a distress call was sent from a USA aircraft carrier. The operator thought that the ship had sunk, so he kept repeating "Remember May Day", as a reference to the date, May 1st, so investigators would know the date of the sinking.Mayday caught on as a distress call and to remember the operator, who ranked a sergeant in the US army

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