Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Hyde
Maybe a PAN call was more appropriate with a priority landing.
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No, a mayday was entirely appropriate, as mandated by AIP
“EMERGENCY FUEL 12.1 The pilot-in-command shall declare a situation of fuel emergency by broadcasting MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY FUEL, when the calculated usable fuel predicted to be available upon landing at the nearest airport where a safe landing can be made is less than the planned fixed fuel reserve and as a result of this predicted fuel state, the aircraft requires immediate assis-tance”
The other fuel message is the phrase minimum fuel, where no delays can be tolerated but no special assistance is required, and the use of PAN PAN PAN is not an acceptable alternative.
https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/2376.pdf
A lot of this phrase use has been recent, and stems from numerous incidents where pilots did not convey to controllers the situation in full, resulting in poor outcomes, such as Avianca 52.