Was this a candidate for a "pan pan" call rather than "mayday"?

I've always thought "pan pan pan" to be silly. If you are in a full fledged
emergency, you (may) need immediate help on the radio, and "mayday" tells
everyone to shut up for a moment. If it doesn't warrant "mayday", then it
probably can be handled (on the radio) without a prefix - that is, a statement
(when the freq is clear) that one needs priority handling should be enough.

If the freq is busy, even a mayday may not get through.

Has anybody found "pan pan pan" useful as a prefix to radio communication?

Jose

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