MAYDAY!

Submitted by ub on

MaydayMaydayMayday! It's the call that no ship's captain ever wants to make. Why? Because it could mean trouble. Big Problem!

The mother ship is taking in water. And according to NYC officials, Nautical Winds Condominium has issues serious enough to receive fresh building violations.

Mayday is the word used around the world to make a distress call via radio communications. Mayday signals a life-threatening emergency, usually on a ship, although it may be used in a variety of other situations.

Procedure calls for the mayday distress signal to be said three times in a row — MaydayMaydayMayday! — so that it won't be mistaken for another word or phrase that sounds similar under noisy conditions. A typical distress call will start with mayday repeated three times, followed by all the relevant information that potential rescuers would need, including type and identity of craft involved, nature of the emergency, location or last known location, current weather, fuel remaining, what type of help is needed and a number of people in danger.

Mayday got its start as an international distress call in 1923. It was made official in 1948. It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He came up with the idea for “mayday" because it sounded like the French word m'aider, which means “help me."

Following a $40K operation to supposedly repair the historic structure, the building appears to continue to experience problems.