Whose emergency is it anyway?
You’ll need
- Scrap paper
- Pens or pencils
- Sticky tack
- Something to mark lines (for example, chalk, masking tape, or rope)
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- Mark a line on the floor of the meeting place that’s long enough for everyone to stand on.
- Make two signs. One should say ‘Pan-pan’ and the other should say ‘Mayday’. They should be big enough for people to read from a short distance.
- Stick one sign at either end of your meeting place. The line should go across the middle of the space between the signs – it shouldn’t connect one sign to the other.
What should you call?
- The person leading the activity should explain that if planes or boats are in trouble, they broadcast specific signals over the radio to ask for help. There are several key signals that pilots and air traffic control use to communicate clearly and quickly in emergencies.
- Ask if anyone knows why they don’t just say “help.” They should explain that “help” is too common in everyday speech. Aviation uses specific terms like Mayday and Pan-pan so everyone knows exactly how serious the situation is.
- The person leading the activity should point out the two signs: one saying “Mayday” and one saying “Pan-pan.”
- Explain their meanings:
- Mayday comes from the French m’aider, meaning “help me.” It’s a distress signal, used when there’s immediate danger to life or the aircraft.
- Pan-pan comes from the French panne, meaning “breakdown.” It’s an urgent signal, used for a serious issue that isn’t immediately life-threatening.
- You could also introduce some other common aviation radio terms.
- Over means “I’ve finished speaking - your turn to respond.”
- Roger means “I received your message.”
- Stand-by means “I heard your message - please wait for a response.”
- Affirmative means “Yes.”
- The person leading the activity should explain that these are used to keep radio communication short, clear, and calm - especially in stressful situations.
Play the game
- Everyone should stand on the line in the middle of the meeting place.
- The person leading the activity should read a scenario. We’ve included some examples on this page. Feel free to use your own ideas too.
- Everyone should decide whether the situation needs a mayday or a pan-pan call. They should run to the side of the meeting place that represents their answer.
- Everyone should find a partner who answered the same way. They should chat about what the radio message could have been. For example:
- Scenario: An engine cuts out mid-flight.
- Radio call: Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Engine failure. Request immediate landing. Over.
- Scenario: One pilot is unconscious, but the co-pilot is fine.
- Radio call: Pan-pan, Pan-pan, Pan-pan. Medical issue on board. Request medical personnel on arrival. Roger.
- The person leading the activity should tell everyone the right answer before getting everyone back to the line and giving the next scenario. You could ask people if they'd like to share what the radio call could have been.
- Keep going until all scenarios are complete.
- The person leading the activity should finish by asking the group what they’ve learned:
- What’s the difference between distress and urgent?
- How do these radio words help pilots and air traffic control understand each other in emergencies?
- The plane is flying and an engine cuts off. (Mayday)
- One pilot’s unconscious but the other pilot is fine. (Pan-pan)
- Someone in the cabin refuses to stop smoking. They become aggressive when they’re asked to put their cigarette out. (Pan-pan)
- The plane’s shaking for no reason. (Pan-pan)
- Fuel’s pouring from the wing of the plane. (Mayday)
- There’s a crack in the plane’s hull and the cabin pressure is falling. (Mayday)
- The plane is on fire. (Mayday)
- There’s a (non-poisonous) snake on the plane. (Pan-pan)
Reflection
This activity was all about communicating. Was using mayday and pan-pan calls a new way of communicating? Why is it important to know how to communicate in an emergency? How sure were people about their answers? Why is it important that people are sure when they’re communicating in an emergency? The right information can help the emergency services get there as fast as possible, and be prepared to deal with the situation as soon as they arrive.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Active games
The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
People could work in groups to think of a few situations that would need a mayday or pan-pan call. Once the groups have a few situations, they could swap with another group and see if they can figure out which call to use in each scenario.
It’s OK if people only feel confident talking in small groups - in this activity, everyone gets the chance to share their opinion before one person feeds back. If some people don’t want to speak in front of the whole group, they could just pass.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
People could find out about their own air emergencies so they can take the lead with the scenarios. Chatting in smaller groups before feeding back is a great chance for everyone to share their ideas.