Even humans don't do so well at that -- hence the use of "magic words" like "mayday" or "I am declaring an emergency" instead of "help" in situations where it really matters.

<pedantry> Unless you're French </pedantry>

You've got a good point though, really - the mayday call as a whole is quite formalised. "x souls on board" and so on.

Recall, though, the recent US air crash where the pilot ran out of fuel but didn't declare an emergency - in spite of the tower asking him if he wanted to! Having such a specific form of words acted in this case as a disincentive - he didn't want to be seen to be in serious trouble.

andy.

ObPerl: erm, print map {$_ x3} split //, ".-."

In reply to Pedantry strikes by andye
in thread Robust Anti-Swear script by Azhrarn

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