Plane crash actions/speech
Mar. 25th, 2025 02:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Hi all!
I'm writing a piece about a precocious young teen who is playing a game about a plane crashing with her friends. It takes place in our world, in the 2010s. In the game, her friend pretends to be the pilot but the MC is going to correct her language from generic kid speech ("code red, we're going down!" etc.) to very specific pilot jargon because she knows all about plane crashed. I'm wondering if anyone could share what kind of jargon pilots might use during a plane crash? Any kind of crash is fine, but it would be good to know if the jargon was specific to e.g., engine failure.
Thank you!
I'm writing a piece about a precocious young teen who is playing a game about a plane crashing with her friends. It takes place in our world, in the 2010s. In the game, her friend pretends to be the pilot but the MC is going to correct her language from generic kid speech ("code red, we're going down!" etc.) to very specific pilot jargon because she knows all about plane crashed. I'm wondering if anyone could share what kind of jargon pilots might use during a plane crash? Any kind of crash is fine, but it would be good to know if the jargon was specific to e.g., engine failure.
Thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 03:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 08:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 03:17 am (UTC)Actually, I just found a text version of the transcript - a couple lines from that:
So, things I'm seeing: "code red" should be "Mayday, mayday, mayday", the kid should identify the plane, the kid should state what went wrong with the plane … I'm not an expert at all but those are a few obvious things I picked up on.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 03:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 10:08 am (UTC)https://youtu.be/uCnE5vymcqg?si=Fp-e3j1dbJMfrnGo
(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 06:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-28 10:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-07 02:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 07:05 pm (UTC)Hope it helps!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-25 09:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-03-26 03:20 pm (UTC)Longer version: your player will say one set of things to their "copilot" and a different set of things if they're announcing things to Air Traffic Control. If their plane goes explodey at 30,000 feet in a clear blue sky (See: United 232, https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/aar-90-06.pdf), then they have options and the conversation will be much lengthier. If they're in the middle of takeoff/landing and something goes wrong, the conversations will be much more short and abrupt (See: transcript of the Miracle on the Hudson https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1003.pdf , where the Captain gets down to single-word answers). In emergencies, you often have very minimal broadcasts, because unnecessary talk can be a real distraction to the pilots trying to fly the damn plane.
Pitch trim runaway on takeoff (VERY BAD)? The pilots might not say a fucking word to ATC, and ATC just watches the plane do frantic ascending circles till the pilots regain control. If the pilots say anything other than swearwords, it's "stall stall stall," to each other, until they've regained control. And only then do they call ATC, and ask to land ASAP ("Tower, this is Blorbo 123, mayday mayday mayday need immediate landing").
Engine failure at 30,000 feet? Well, that's an "emergency" (in Europe it's usually a pan-pan, that is, might eventually be mayday but not yet) but not actually likely to cause a crash; pilots would do an engine failure checklist, and might even call their company dispatcher before communicating to ATC that they're having difficulty. Even an uncontained engine failure that breaches the fuselage, like Southwest 1380 (https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1903.pdf), there's managing the immediate emergency -- pilots put on their air masks, start descending to 10,000 feet where the passengers can breathe, and only then do they reach out to ATC to make sure other airplanes get out of their way. ("Mayday mayday mayday, this is Blorbo 123, loss of pressurization, need immediate descent.") But once down to that safer altitude, the plane is still flying! Planes do fine on a single engine! Conversations with ATC can slow down! That plane will get to jump the queue and land immediately, but it'll land safely unless something else goes drastically wrong.
The fact is, when a plane crashes, there's often very minimal conversation to be recovered. Crashes usually happen from low altitude, so the time between "Yikes" and death is a few seconds, maybe. The pilots are concentrating on not crashing, so may not say a single word, or only a few "flaps! FLAPS!!" to each other, and nothing to ATC. Even when the emergency happens at high altitude, as with Egypt Air 804 (https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/masks-smoke-and-mirrors-the-untold-story-of-egyptair-flight-804-42c788fcac2d), that emergency may be an oxygen fire in the cockpit, in which case the pilots are way too busy fighting to breathe to say much at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-13 07:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-01 08:50 am (UTC)Not sure of the broader context of your MC being a kid but knowing all about plane crashes, but the biggest thing is always just getting the information out there. This will depend on if you’re in controlled airspace (airport areas or high traffic volume with good radio reception) or uncontrolled airspace (mountainous terrain, the ocean, and the boonies). You always want to get out nature of distress, intentions, and desired assistance from the controlling agency, if any. The closer you are to crashing, the less info and fewer words will be passed.
Example:
Engine failure on takeoff (especially bad because you probably won’t have enough power to climb to an altitude you can come back in for the runway, and there will be trees or buildings past the runway you just took off from): “Tower, Delta 1487. Engine failure, going around for 29.” In this case the pilot is requesting a perpendicular runway (really announcing that they’re going there because they’ve determined it’s the only viable option and there’s no time to hash anything out). The controller will know to order immediate ground stop and cancel all other takeoff and landing clearances for other aircraft, get the crash crews rolling, and clear the way for the emergency aircraft. If Cessna Bob is in the same situation their radio call could be the same (call sign would be something like 3ES, three echo Sierra) OR Cessna Bob could use “plain language” which is also totally appropriate.
If there’s time, adding three maydays at the beginning of your transmission alerts all others on the frequency that you’re experiencing distress and to keep the frequency clear for emergency communication. You’re also supposed to literally say “declaring an emergency.”
If your MC is going for the textbook transmission, the “mayday mayday mayday. This is Tango Papa Three Echo Sierra. I’m experiencing a single engine failure, unable to climb. Declaring an emergency, request vectors for Happy Days Airport without delay.”
Honestly for a two (or more) engine aircraft a single engine failure is no biggie. Single engine would obvi be a larger issue. Planes glide a good distance tho and they like to fly (unlike helicopters) so it’s not as scary as someone might think. Things that WOULD be a huge issue tho are fires (usually shutting down an on fire engine puts out the fire), or a hydraulic issue (only on a big plane tho, since you need hydraulic boots to actually move the flight controls). Landing gear failing to extend is also actually a huge problem that can be very catastrophic but it doesn’t sound as exciting to non aviation people. Also getting stuck in the clouds when you’re not trained / licensed to fly thru them and then getting lost, flying into terrain (basically instant death), or running out of gas and your engines flaming out because you’re trying to get out of low lying clouds is also super bad and a causal factor in many general aviation mishaps but that usually an emergency from poor pilotage rather than a mechanical failure, which is way more exciting for a story.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-07 02:50 am (UTC)