Mayday - International Distress Call

In radio communication "Mayday" is referred to as a distress signal for a life threatening emergency. It has to be repeated three times as to eliminate all confusion pertaining to the radio call, for example communication about a mayday or words that might sound similar compared to an actual emergency.

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This signal is mainly used by mariners and aviators, but in some places in the world other emergency services might also use the signal. We will be looking at it from an aviation point of view. Mayday is applicable in most aircraft emergencies as falling from the sky is most definitely a life threatening emergency.

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In one of my previous posts I shared the basics of how aircraft fly, so now we will look at why they stop flying. First you have to understand forces and how they work on the aircraft. There are four basic forces that work on an aircraft in flight, (Thrust, Drag, Lift, Weight). When we look at Newton's 3rd law of motion, we understand that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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So we can see the opposing forces as Newton describes, so to make the aircraft fly the thrust and lift forces need to be greater than the drag and weight forces. In my previous post we learned that we need air to flow over the wing to create a pressure difference resulting in lift, so the trust provides the airflow, and the airflow over the wing provides the lift.

By effecting any of the forces we can manipulate the aircraft's ability to fly. When trust is decreased the airflow decreases and in turn lift will decrease, in landing configuration these forces are managed in a controlled manner as to produce a constant descent until the aircraft is safely on the ground.

Similarly drag can also be manipulated with (landing gear, flaps, spoilers etc) but the most important of these methods used is Attitude. This does not refer to a human characteristic, but rather to the aircraft's orientation to the airflow. Most commonly referred to as the angle of attack.

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There are a many reasons why an aircraft would stop flying , but the most common incidents are based on human error, where the aircraft is placed in an Attitude that causes the wings to stall.

Other factors may include engine failure, structural damage or fatigue, or instrument failure but with the stringent regulations to inspect the aircraft on a regular basis the other factors are a small percentage of incidents.

Pilots undergo stringent training to avoid stalls and if a stall is entered how to recover, but because of human limitations mistakes are made and emergencies created, and in these times it would be convenient to have an ejection seat.

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Fellow sky travelers, stay sharp, stay safe and happy flying.

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