§ 80.1131   Transmissions of urgency communications.

   (a) In a terrestrial system the announcement of the urgency message must be
   made on one or more of the distress and safety calling frequencies specified
   in § 80.1077 using digital selective calling and the urgency call format. A
   separate announcement need not be made if the urgency message is to be
   transmitted through the maritime mobile-satellite service.

   (b) The urgency signal and message must be transmitted on one or more of the
   distress and safety traffic frequencies specified in § 80.1077, or via the
   maritime mobile-satellite service or on other frequencies used for this
   purpose.

   (c) The urgency signal consists of the words PAN PAN. In radiotelephony each
   word of the group must be pronounced as the French word “panne”.

   (d) The urgency call format and the urgency signal indicate that the calling
   station has a very urgent message to transmit concerning the safety of a
   mobile unit or a person.

   (e) In radiotelephony, the urgency message must be preceded by the urgency
   signal, repeated three times, and the identification of the transmitting
   station.

   (f) In narrow-band direct-printing, the urgency message must be preceded by
   the urgency signal and the identification of the transmitting station.

   (g) The urgency call format or urgency signal must be sent only on the
   authority  of the master or the person responsible for the mobile unit
   carrying the mobile station or mobile earth station.

   (h) The urgency call format or the urgency signal may be transmitted by a
   land station or a coast earth station with the approval of the responsible
   authority.

   (i) When an urgency message which calls for action by the stations receiving
   the  message  has  been  transmitted,  the station responsible for its
   transmission must cancel it as soon as it knows that action is no longer
   necessary.

   (j)  Error  correction  techniques,  in  accordance with ITU-R M.625-3
   (incorporated by reference, see § 80.7), as specified in § 80.1101, must be
   used for urgency messages by direct-printing telegraphy. All messages must
   be preceded by at least one carriage return, a line feed signal, a letter
   shift signal, and the urgency signal PAN PAN.

   (k) Urgency communications by direct-printing telegraphy should be in the
   ARQ mode when communicating directly to the Coast Guard or other coast
   stations  on  channels  which  they  normally  guard.  Other  distress
   communications,  including those on simplex channels provided for that
   purpose, should be in the broadcast forward error correction mode. The ARQ
   mode may subsequently be used when it is advantageous to do so.

   [ 57 FR 9065 , Mar. 16, 1992, as amended at  68 FR 46981 , Aug. 7, 2003;  76 FR 67618 , Nov. 2, 2011]

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