Qantas flight QF144 was right to call mayday, says pilots association

Qantas flight QF144 landed safely in Sydney on January 18 but questions have emerged on the use of a mayday signal.

Qantas first officer and vice president of the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) Mark Hofmeyer told ACM the mayday call was best practice.

The mayday call will clear planes from the surrounding airspace, and was a responsible call for pilots to make before the extent of damage was known, Mr Hofmeyer said.

"You might not have enough time, at that point, to assess exactly what's going on," he said.

"It's the pilot's call to go for a mayday first."

The pilots flying QF144 sent the call, later downgraded to a PAN-PAN (possible assistance needed) call, informing traffic control an engine had malfunctioned.

"It's no skin off anyone's nose if a pilot calls mayday and then changes to PAN-PAN," Mr Hofmeyer said.

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"The pilot in command has the responsibility to choose the safest course of action," he said.

The mayday call is used to signal distress, and triggers traffic control to notify planes in the area of the potential danger.

A PAN-PAN call is less extreme, derived from the French word for "breakdown", and signifies a non-life-threatening malfunction.

"If the pilot decides they have it under control and they'd like to revert to a PAN-PAN call, that's within their rights," he said.

Mr Hofmeyer said the pilots should be congratulated for the safe landing, and that a difficult situation "was made to look easy".