What does May Day mean?

Distress signal is an international radio distress signal. The word "Mayday" originally means "help me" in French, but it is pronounced "Mayday" in English. Calling for help on the radio means encountering an imminent life-threatening situation. When sending a distress signal, you must shout three times in a row ("distress, distress, distress") to avoid being heard, drowned by noise or confused with other communications. Usually ships or planes will use distress signals for help; Police and firefighters in some areas also use this call sign to ask their colleagues for help.

The source M'aider is a French verb "help me", which is usually not used alone in standard French, and may be the abbreviation of Venez M'aider ("come and help me"); Written in English, it became May Day. Moreover, in French, this word does not have a particularly urgent meaning. In French, when most people shout "help", most people will say "? My assistant! " Or "Ausecuours!" .

Using Mayday as a distress signal originated from an Englishman named Federick Stanley Mokford in 1923. At that time, he was a senior majoring in radio at an airport in London, England. The airport asked him to come up with an easy-to-understand word for all pilots and ground crew to ask for help in an emergency. At that time, most of the planes at the airport traveled to and from Paris, France, so he proposed Mayday to m'aider, France.

Only when ships and planes are in immediate and serious danger, threatening people's lives and unable to save themselves, can they send out distress signals. For example, if the ship is sinking, it can still be used in case of fire and explosion.

Mayday's distress signal was sent by radio. It is understandable that ships or planes send distress signals on any channel. Specialized rescue organizations such as maritime rescue centers, coast guards and air traffic control centers all over the world have dedicated personnel to monitor specific dedicated distress channels 24 hours a day. Maritime rescue uses medium frequency 2 182 kHz and maritime VHF channel; Aviation use 12 1.5 MHz and 243.0 MHz.

When sending a distress signal, call three times first (distress, distress, distress); Then say the ship/plane code, describe your location, the danger you encounter, the number of people on the ship/plane, what you will do and what kind of assistance you need. Repeat it after you say it, and then wait for a reply. If you don't receive a reply after two minutes, you should repeat it.

At sea, when the rescue center receives the distress signal, it may send planes or ships to the scene for search and rescue. Nearby ships may also be transferred to the site for assistance. Sending distress signals by radio call is the same as sending SOS by radio telegraph or dialing emergency numbers on the ground. Sending false distress signals is a criminal offence in most places, because it may endanger the lives of rescuers and waste resources. In the United States, sending false distress signals is a violation of federal law and can be sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

If the ship cannot send a distress signal for some reason (such as radio failure), it can also use other methods to ask for help. Other ships can also send for help. Generally speaking, if a ship hears a distress signal from another ship, but does not hear a reply from the relevant authorities within two minutes, it should try to send a distress signal.

Other signals PAN-PAN-PAN (French panne, meaning failure) is another kind of emergency signal, indicating an emergency that is not as important as Mayday. For example, if a ship or plane breaks down and loses control, it is attacked by pirates, or someone needs immediate medical assistance. When using it, it is also called three times first (Panpan, Panpan, Panpan; Or a general medical student; General medical students; General medical students). Sometimes, search and rescue agencies will send urgent notices on behalf of Panpan.

Silent French pronunciation [si' l\u? s]； English writing is Seelonce, pronounced as [si:'l? Ns]. The rescue organization that sends out a distress call or response can use the following signals: Seelonce Mayday(Silence, M'aider) or seel once Distress (silence-distress): (French: silent-distress) indicating that this frequency is only used for ships in need of rescue, rescue organizations that answer or assist in rescue, and other general communications are suspended until Seelonce feenee(Silence finit).