7.1 Urgency Communications (PAN PAN)

Urgency is serious—but it is not distress

RIC-21 section 7 Urgency Communications sits immediately after the full distress chapter for a reason: candidates must never confuse MAYDAY with PAN PAN. Distress is grave and/or imminent danger requiring immediate assistance. Urgency is a very urgent safety message that does not require immediate assistance. On the exam and on the radio, choosing the wrong signal either understates a life-threatening event or overstates a situation that still needs disciplined priority—but not absolute distress silence.

This section covers RIC-21 §§7.1–7.5: the signal, priority, frequencies, message elements, the official lost/radar-check example, the tower reply, and cancellation.

Quick Answer: Speak PAN PAN three times under the authority of the person in charge. It concerns safety of an aircraft, ship, other vehicle, or a person, without needing immediate assistance. Priority is second only to distress. Transmit first on the frequency in use; if needed, then 121.5 MHz or any available frequency. Cancel to ALL STATIONS when action is no longer necessary.

7.1 Urgency signal

The urgency signal indicates that the station calling has a very urgent message to transmit concerning:

• the safety of an aircraft, ship, or other vehicle, or
• the safety of a person

…but which does not require immediate assistance.

The spoken urgency signal is “PAN PAN” (often written without a hyphen in RIC-21), spoken three times. Use it at the beginning of the first urgency communication.

Authority

The urgency signal shall be sent only on the authority of the person in charge of the station. That matches the command-authority rule used for distress: do not freestyle a PAN PAN as a joke, a training bluff without proper framing, or a way to jump a busy frequency for a non-urgency request.

Addressing flexibility

The urgency signal and the urgency message may be addressed to:

• all stations, or
• a specific station

This is a structural contrast with the distress call, which is not addressed to a particular station. Urgency can be a broadcast to everyone or a pointed call to a tower, centre, or radio that you already expect will help.

Typical operational shapes (for understanding, not a closed RIC-21 list)

Scenarios that often fit urgency rather than distress include:

• Unsure of position / “lost,” need a radar or position check, aircraft still flying normally
• Sick passenger or medical concern where the flight is not itself in grave immediate danger
• System or fuel concern that is serious for safety planning but not yet a forced landing or ditching
• Reporting a safety problem you see that needs prompt attention without claiming you yourself need rescue right now

If the situation escalates to grave/imminent danger and immediate assistance, upgrade to MAYDAY. Do not cling to PAN PAN out of embarrassment.

7.2 Priority of urgency

The urgency signal has priority over all other communications except distress.

Map this to RIC-21 §4.1 priorities: distress is absolute top; urgency is next. Routine weather, company ops, and social chatter wait. You do not, however, treat PAN PAN as if it were SEELONCE MAYDAY-level total freeze of every channel forever—follow the listening rules below.

Duties of stations that hear the urgency signal

Stations that hear the urgency signal shall:

1. Continue to listen for at least three minutes on the frequency on which the signal was heard
2. After that, if no urgency message has been heard, an aeronautical ground station should, if possible, be notified of receipt of the urgency signal, and normal working may be resumed
3. Take care not to interfere with the urgency message that follows

Other frequencies may keep working (important exception)

Stations that are in communication on frequencies other than those used for the urgency message may continue normal work without interruption, provided that the urgency message is not addressed to ALL STATIONS.

Exam trap: “Everyone everywhere must freeze for three minutes on every frequency.” Wrong. The three-minute listen is on the frequency on which the signal was heard, and cross-frequency normal work can continue when urgency is not to ALL STATIONS.

7.3 Frequencies to be used

Parallel to distress frequency order (RIC-21 §6.3 / §7.3):

1. First transmission of the urgency signal and message: on the air-ground frequency in use at the time
2. If unable to establish communication on that frequency: repeat on the aeronautical emergency frequency 121.5 MHz
3. Or on any other frequency available, trying to reach any aeronautical ground or other aircraft station

Do not default to 121.5 first if you already have solid contact on a tower, FSS/radio, or centre frequency. The people with your strip and local picture are often already on the working channel.

7.4 Urgency message elements (order)

The urgency signal shall be followed by a message giving further information about the incident. Include as many as required of the following, spoken distinctly and, if possible, in this order:

1. The urgency signal PAN PAN (three times)
2. The name of the station addressed or the words ALL STATIONS (three times)
3. The words THIS IS
4. The identification of the aircraft
5. The nature of the urgency condition
6. The intentions of the person in command
7. The present position, flight level or altitude, and the heading
8. Any other useful information

Forwarding when addressed to all stations

When the urgency message is not addressed to a specific station (i.e. all stations) and is acknowledged by another aircraft or aeronautical ground station, the acknowledging station shall forward the urgency information to the appropriate authorities (air traffic service unit, airport operating agency, or its representative). Acknowledgment is not a dead end—it triggers forwarding.

Official RIC-21 worked example — lost / radar check

PAN PAN, PAN PAN, PAN PAN
ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS
THIS IS
CESSNA FOXTROT NOVEMBER JULIETT INDIA
LOST, REQUEST RADAR CHECK
POSITION: UNKNOWN
AIRSPEED: 112 KNOTS
ALTITUDE: 1050 FEET
CESSNA FOXTROT NOVEMBER JULIETT INDIA
OVER

Map the example to the element list:

Official-style reply (Winnipeg Tower)

PAN PAN
CESSNA FOXTROT NOVEMBER JULIETT INDIA
THIS IS WINNIPEG TOWER
YOUR POSITION IS 20 MILES SOUTH OF WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG TOWER
STANDING BY

Notes for the exam:

• The ground station opens with PAN PAN (once in the sample reply pattern) so listeners know the exchange is still urgency-related
• It names the aircraft, identifies itself, gives the position, re-identifies, and remains STANDING BY
• This is not a MAYDAY acknowledgment with RECEIVED MAYDAY triple call signs—different emergency class, different template

7.5 Cancellation of urgency message

When the urgency message calls for action by stations receiving it, the station responsible for its transmission shall cancel it as soon as it knows that action is no longer necessary. The cancellation message shall be addressed to ALL STATIONS.

Official RIC-21 cancellation example

PAN PAN
ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS
THIS IS
CESSNA FOXTROT NOVEMBER JULIETT INDIA
CESSNA FOXTROT NOVEMBER JULIETT INDIA HAS BEEN POSITIONED AT
20 MILES SOUTH OF WINNIPEG AIRPORT PROCEEDING NORMALLY
CESSNA FOXTROT NOVEMBER JULIETT INDIA
OUT

Cancellation is not optional courtesy when you have asked the world (or a network of stations) to do something. Once you are positioned and proceeding normally, cancel so others can drop the urgency mental model and resume ordinary priority discipline.

PAN PAN vs MAYDAY — side-by-side contrast

Exam traps

Trap 1 — Using MAYDAY for “lost / radar check.” RIC-21’s own urgency example is the lost aircraft; that is PAN PAN unless the situation is truly grave/imminent with immediate assistance needed.

Trap 2 — Forgetting the three-minute listen. Hearing PAN PAN without a following message is not “ignore and chat.”

Trap 3 — Freezing every frequency always. Other-frequency stations may continue if urgency is not to ALL STATIONS.

Trap 4 — First frequency is always 121.5. First is the frequency in use.

Trap 5 — Never cancelling. When action is no longer necessary, cancel to ALL STATIONS.

Trap 6 — Mixing distress ack formats (RECEIVED MAYDAY triple IDs) into a simple urgency radar-check reply.

Study drill

Without notes, recite: (1) PAN PAN definition including “does not require immediate assistance”; (2) three-minute listen rule; (3) frequency order; (4) eight message elements; (5) the lost / 112 knots / 1050 feet example outline; (6) cancel to ALL STATIONS. If you can perform that aloud, you own RIC-21 §7 at ROC-A depth.