In rec.aviation.student Mark Hansen wrote:
On 04/18/08 13:35, Michael Ash wrote:
Is the imminent demise of one of your passengers not considered a moment
of crisis, or was this guy using the wrong signal?

Your concerned seemed to be that the pilot may be too overloaded to have
to think about whether he should use MAYDAY or PAN. My comment is that
if he is in such a state, he should just use MAYDAY.

Well, I'm concerned that the decision adds to the load. There will always
be borderline cases. It seems to me that it would be better to have a
universal "I'm in trouble, pay attention to me now" call and leave the
distinctions for followup communications.

I know that if one of my passengers started croaking in mid-flight, I'm
going to be getting on the ground in a rapid fashion and telling people to
clear out of my way and call emergency services, not arguing with people
over radio terminology.

Of course. I wasn't suggesting otherwise.

Very good then!

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software