Fait Accompli - French Phrases in International Air-sea Rescue

French Phrases in International Air-sea Rescue

International authorities have adopted a number of words and phrases from French for use by speakers of all languages in voice communications during air-sea rescues. Note that the "phonetic" versions are presented as shown and not the IPA.

SECURITAY
(securité, "safety") the following is a safety message or warning, the lowest level of danger.
PAN PAN
(panne, "breakdown") the following is a message concerning a danger to a person or ship, the next level of danger.
MAYDAY
( m'aider, come to help me"; note that aidez-moi means "help me") the following is a message of extreme urgency, the highest level of danger. (MAYDAY is used on voice channels for the same uses as SOS on Morse channels.)
SEELONCE
(silence, "silence") keep this channel clear for air-sea rescue communications.
SEELONCE FEE NEE
(silence fini, "silence is over") this channel is now available again.
PRU DONCE
(prudence, "prudence") silence partially lifted, channel may be used again for urgent non-distress communication.
MAY DEE CAL
(médical, "medical") medical assistance needed.

It is a serious breach in most countries, and in international zones, to use any of these phrases without justification.

See Mayday (distress signal) for a more detailed explanation.

Read more about this topic:  Fait Accompli

Famous quotes containing the words french, phrases and/or rescue:

    “One thing that makes art different from life is that in art things have a shape ... it allows us to fix our emotions on events at the moment they occur, it permits a union of heart and mind and tongue and tear.”
    —Marilyn French (b. 1929)

    “She loved Cecil; George made her nervous; will the reader explain to her that the phrases should have been reversed?”
    —E.M. (Edward Morgan)

    “To rescue our children we will have to let them save us from the power we embody: we will have to trust the very difference that they forever personify. And we will have to allow them the choice, without fear of death: that they may come and do likewise or that they may come and that we will follow them, that a little child will lead us back to the child we will always be, vulnerable and wanting and hurting for love and for beauty.”
    —June Jordan (b. 1939)