Pan-pan

For the Hindu Kingdom, see Pan Pan. For the French armoured car, see Panhard 178.

In radiotelephone communications, a call of three repetitions of pan-pan (/ˈpɑːn ˈpɑːn/) is used to signify that there is an urgency on board a boat, ship, aircraft or other vehicle but that, for the time being at least, there is no immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself. This is referred to as a state of urgency. This is distinct from a Mayday call, which means that there is imminent danger to life or to the continued viability of the vessel itself. Thus "pan-pan" informs potential rescuers (including emergency services and other craft in the area) that a safety problem exists whereas "Mayday" will call upon them to drop all other activities and immediately initiate a rescue attempt.

Derivation

See the list of French phrases used by English speakers. The French word panne nominally refers to a mechanical failure or breakdown of any kind.

A three-letter backronym, "Possible Assistance Needed" or "Pay Attention Now", is derived from "pan". It is used on various maritime and aeronautical radio communications courses as an aide-mémoire to radio/communications operators, specifically to reaffirm the important difference between Mayday and Pan-Pan emergency communications.

Usage

The correct usage is "Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan", followed by the intended recipient of the message, either "All Stations, All Stations, All Stations" or a specific station, "Vancouver Coast Guard Radio, Vancouver Coast Guard Radio, Vancouver Coast Guard Radio", the identification of the craft, its position, the nature of the problem and the type of assistance or advice required, if any. An equivalent Morse code signal used to be "X X X", with each letter sent distinctly.

Nautical examples

Examples of the correct use of a "pan-pan" call from a boat or ship may include the following cases, provided the skipper or master remains confident that they can handle the situation and that there is no current danger to the life of any person or to the safety of the vessel itself.

Once the urgent situation which led to the Pan Pan broadcast has been resolved or contended with, conventional practice is for the station that initiated the Pan Pan call to make a follow-up broadcast to All Stations, informing them that the urgent situation no longer exists.

A call that originates as a "pan-pan" signal might be followed by a Mayday distress call if the situation deteriorates to the point of "grave and imminent danger", thus warranting immediate action (intervention, assistance, response) on the part of listeners in accordance with standard operating practices for distress signaling.

Fouled propeller, engine failure or out of fuel

Provided the vessel is now either anchored or under sail and safe from any immediate danger of collision or stranding. The crew may be planning to clear the propeller, refuel from an onboard supply, hoist sail or use some other alternative propulsion. Alternatively, as part of the "pan-pan" call the skipper may request a tow from a suitable vessel, if possible, but without immediate urgency.

Small fire on board - now extinguished

Fire can be very dangerous afloat but if it was small and contained and is now certainly put out without injury to any crew, then a "pan-pan" call is appropriate to warn others that investigations are underway to establish the extent of the damage, clear the smoke from below and hopefully re-establish passage as soon as possible.

Unsure of position

Provided there is no apparent danger of stranding or hitting rocks, a "pan-pan" call on marine VHF radio may allow nearby coast-stations and perhaps other vessels to triangulate the source of the transmissions and provide the skipper with both a fix and perhaps some advice on the best course to steer to reach a safe haven.

Man-overboard recovery

If safely recovering a person overboard, a "pan-pan" call on VHF makes other nearby vessels aware of the situation and ensures that they keep a sharp lookout, avoid coming too close, avoid excessive wake or otherwise interfering. It also alerts them to the fact that the recovery vessel is maneuvering for urgent life-saving and is therefore 'restricted in her ability to maneuver' in accordance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. If the recovery vessel has lost sight of the person overboard, if the person overboard loses consciousness, if there is a danger of hypothermia or any other grave risk to life, then a mayday call is more appropriate so that other nearby vessels may offer help with the search and recovery, rather than keeping clear.

Overdue Vessel

The US or Canadian Coast Guard (and likely similar maritime safety agencies in other countries) issue "urgent marine information broadcasts" concerning vessels that have been reported overdue, as part of the process of a 'communications search' or 'pre-com' phase of uncertain, possible distress, as determined under the authority of a maritime rescue co-ordination centre or joint maritime-aeronautical rescue co-ordination centre. The message content, a description of the vessel under the apprehension of being missing, its last known position and the date last heard from, and the supposed route or passage plan of the vessel, is preceded by the prowords Pan Pan and will be addressed to "all stations". Any stations having information concerning the whereabouts of the named vessel are asked to communicate with and report same to the nearest coast guard station.

Imminent Collision Alert

It may be warranted to urgently attempt to make radio contact with an approaching vessel that is running into danger or approaching a dangerous close quarters situation and therefore at risk of colliding with one's own vessel, and warning the operator to keep clear. This would be a 'bridge-to-bridge' communication and could be done in combination with sounding the "your intentions are unclear or not understood" sound signal, the 5 prolonged horn or whistle blasts, the 'danger signal'. A prolong blast is 5 seconds long, compared to a short blast of 1 second duration under the COLREG. An urgent warning could also be given over the radio, for example, if the called vessel appears to be unaware that she is potentially or at risk of endangering a person in a small boat or a person swimming, such as running them down. A loud hailer could also be used along with a radio warning.

Medical assistance

A "pan-pan medico" call is appropriate if someone becomes injured or in need of medical help at sea. If the vessel is heading to shore and wants to be met by an ambulance crew, the local Coast Guard station can arrange this. A doctor or other trained medical advisor may also be available on the radio, perhaps by patching through via telephone from ashore or from a nearby vessel. Again, if there is immediate risk to life, then a Mayday call is more appropriate. "Pan-pan medico" is no longer in official use.

Marine Rescue Organisations, such as Coastal Patrol, Coast Guard & Search and Rescue listen on marine radio frequencies for all distress calls including "pan-pan". These organisations can coordinate or assist and can relay such calls to other stations that may be better able to do so.

Aeronautical examples

The call was used during the urgent emergency landing requests sent as a result of the electrical fire which was to destroy Swissair Flight 111. Also, in the wake of Avianca Flight 52, the call is frequently used to denote situations where fuel is getting low for given conditions, but not yet at a critical emergency state. Qantas Flight QF-74 used the call "Pan Pan Pan" when it had an engine failure on its fourth engine soon after take off from San Francisco. Qantas Flight 72 (QF-72) issued a Pan Pan when the aircraft experienced rapid, uncommanded movements in which the plane dropped several hundred feet without instruction from the flight crew. Several passengers and crew suffered major and minor injuries.

Qantas Flight 32 issued a PAN-PAN when one of its four engines suffered an uncontained engine failure shortly after take-off in a flight from Singapore to Sydney.

Vulcan XH558 issued a PAN-PAN on Sunday the 29th August 2011 when it experienced a hydraulic failure after take-off en-route to Dunsfold "Wings and Wheels". This happened during a practice display over Rutland Water which resulted in the aircraft landing at RAF Coninsgby. RAF Coninsgby was chosen as the runway was long and into wind enabling the aircraft to use less brakes and rely on the braking parachute.

Medical advice

One special case of "pan-pan" is to ask for medical advice. This is a normal "pan-pan" call including a phrase such as "request medical advice" and the identification of the craft, its position and the nature of a medical problem suffered by one of the passengers or crew. This type of call is specifically used in order to get a doctor's advice for a medical problem that does not, in the current opinion of the skipper or master of the vessel, seem to be life-threatening.

The phrase "Pan-pan Medico" is used in some older reference books, but is no longer in official use.

Once patched through to a medical expert either on land or in another vessel, the radio operator will most likely be asked to describe some detail of the symptoms and history of the condition and perhaps some medical history of the casualty too. The doctor will, most likely, be able to recommend first aid treatment and give other advice to make the patient more comfortable, using whatever resources are available on board. In some cases a decision may be made that the medical case is more urgent than the skipper assumed, and so the call will be escalated to a 'mayday' and receive immediate intervention by rescuers, if at all possible.

See also

• Distress signal
• SOS
• Mayday
• Securite
• Vessel emergency codes
• ICAO spelling alphabet