Sec. 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 Sec. 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 
Sec. 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.

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    (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 CCIR 
Recommendation 625 as specified in Sec. 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.