What is a mayday 7700 call? Emergency signal from Qantas Flight 144 that startled Australia when its engine failed on flight from Auckland to Sydney – explained
A Qantas flight has safely touched down in Sydney after the pilots issued a distress signal when an engine malfunctioned – with the nation taking a collective sigh of relief.
Dozens of emergency service vehicles dashed to Sydney International Airport on Wednesday afternoon after QF144 from Auckland issued a mayday 7700 emergency call to air traffic control.
Mayday, an internationally recognised radio signal used on boats and aircrafts, is used by pilots to signal a life threatening emergency.
Meanwhile, air traffic controllers also use squawk codes, which are transponder codes used to identify planes in the airspace.
Under certain circumstances, the specific code assigned to a flight can be changed.
A squawk code for a flight is changed to 7700 in incidents when an aircraft is experiencing an emergency event.
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