Sorry Natalie to insist, but this is absolutely true.
I live in Paris since 1989 and I can assure you this makes sense in French
language.
"Mayday" is definitely the Americanized spelling of "m'aidez" or "m'aider".
(French for "help me!").
I am sure that a quick Google will confirm this.

Bonne Journée!
;-))

Andrea




"Natalie" ha scritto nel messaggio
...


Andrea da lontano wrote:

I actually did use it once when flying over Oregon a few years ago I
spotted
a wildfire spreading out in a inhabited area.

Little note on the origins of PAN PAN PAN and MAY DAY.
Both terms come from the French Language (yes, that's true).

1) PAN comes from the French PANNE, which means "failure", "problem"
2) MAY DAY comes from the French "M'aider", thta you actually pronounce
as
Mayday and which means "Help Me"

That can't be true about MAY DAY. That would be horrible French, and it
doesn't make much sense at all. Aidez-moi (or aides-moi) would be "Help
me."