Medical Emergency — PAN & Priority Landing
advancedUS phraseologyA passenger with a suspected cardiac condition. Declare a PAN, request a priority approach and an ambulance to meet the aircraft, pass persons on board, and read back an expedited descent and vectors. Learn how to marshal the right medical resources over the radio.
Briefing
You are American 231, a Boeing 737-800 in the cruise, working Chicago Center. A passenger has collapsed with chest pains — a suspected cardiac condition, currently conscious. This is urgent but not (yet) immediately life-threatening: declare a PAN and request priority to the nearest suitable airport.
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- Exchange 1
Declare the urgency: PAN PAN ×3, station, callsign and the nature of the emergency.
💡 A serious but not immediately life-threatening medical case is an urgency — "PAN PAN" ×3. (A patient in extremis may warrant MAYDAY.) Either way ATC will give priority; state the nature clearly.
- Exchange 2
State your request: priority approach, an ambulance to meet the aircraft, and pass persons on board.
💡 Ask for the specific resources you need — a priority approach AND medical assistance (ambulance/paramedics) to a defined point (the gate/stand). Persons on board helps ground services plan.
- Exchange 3
ATC: “American Two Three One, Chicago Center, roger, descend and maintain one one thousand, turn left heading two seven zero, vectors for the visual runway two eight right, expedite descent.”
Read back the expedited descent and the vector. Level and heading are mandatory.
💡 Read back both the assigned level and the heading — the two items ATC most needs confirmed. Acknowledging "expedite" tells the controller you understand the urgency of the descent.
- Exchange 4
ATC: “American Two Three One, squawk seven seven zero zero, contact Chicago Approach one two five point three five.”
Read back the squawk and the frequency change.
💡 Squawk and frequency changes are both mandatory readbacks. In the US the decimal is spoken "point"; read the frequency back in full before leaving the current one.
Background reading
- GuideFenix A320 Failure Training: Master the 4 Emergencies Every Sim Pilot Should Practice
Practice engine failure, engine fire, rapid decompression and unreliable airspeed in the Fenix A320 — step-by-step ECAM drills and how to stay calm.
- GuideYour First VATSIM Flight: From Setup to Landing Without Panic
Your first VATSIM flight, step by step: client setup, connecting, essential radio phraseology, what ATC expects, and how to recover from mistakes.
- GuideATC Phraseology for Flight Simmers: What to Say and When to Say It
Word-for-word ATC radio scripts for every phase of flight, clearance to landing — for VATSIM, MSFS default ATC and AI addons. Read them off the screen.