Mayday (distress signal)

Mayday is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come (and) help me".^[1] It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency by many groups, such as police forces, pilots, firefighters, and transportation organizations. The call is always given three times in a row ("mayday-mayday-mayday") to prevent mistaking it for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions and to distinguish an actual mayday call from a message about a mayday call.