What Is Mayday Signal Air India Flight Sent Before Ahmedabad Crash? (Photo on X@airindia)

Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Before plummeting into a building near Meghani Nagar, the Air India Boeing 7878 (Flight AI171) issued a Mayday signal. The call was given shortly before the aircraft went silent ahead of the tragic crash.

The London-bound flight, which carried 242 people, including 169 Indians, 53 UK citizens, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian, issued the Mayday call. The voice-distress signal was sent from the pilot. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) confirmed receiving the call shortly before losing the signal.

Read Also:  Tragic Ahmedabad Plane Crash: 5 Key Pointers

What Is Mayday Call?

Mayday call is an internationally recognised means for obtaining help during distress, and the emergency signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a sound audible from a distance.

The pilots utter “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,” suggesting that the plane is going through a life-threatening emergency requiring immediate help. With this signal, all non-essential radio traffic must stand down, as ATC prioritises the distress call.

Read Also: Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Ex-Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Was Onboard

Mayday call originated in the 1920s and was coined by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. Mockford coined the term by making it a phonetic equivalent of the French phrase m’aider (“help me”).

In 1923, the term became part of the international radio communication for pilots and mariners, and it was in 1927 that it was formally adopted alongside the Morse “SOS”, a globally recognized distress code.

After making the Mayday call, pilots usually provide details such as call sign, location, nature of emergency, number of people aboard, and request for rescue teams to act accordingly. The Mayday call was first used in 1923 by Croydon-Le Bourget flights.

Currently, ATC consistently monitors emergency frequencies (121.5MHz and 243MHz) for any Mayday signals. The signals instantly trigger emergency protocols, dispatching fire, medical, and security services to the called site.