Mayday! Mayday!": a distress call, two miracles, and dozens of still unidentified charred bodies in the Air India accident. Story by Lucas De La Cal • 1w.

Introduced: 1904 by Marconi as the first radio distress call. Why it's used: ' CQ' meant "calling all stations," and adding 'D' meant distress. Famous use: SS Republic sent a CQD in 1909.

The death toll from Air India’s horrific plane crash rose to 270 Saturday, as officials revealed the pilot’s chilling distress call sent just before the aircraft plunged into the ground.

‘Mayday, no thrust, losing power’: The call that sealed the fate of Flight 171. Gordon Rayner. Thu, June 12, 2025 at 4:07 PM UTC. 9 min read. Location of Air India plane crash – Satellite view.

A Takeoff, a Mayday Call, and Two Pilots Who Never Made It Home One pilot on the ill-fated Air India flight was planning to retire. His co-pilot’s career was just getting started.