Crossword Genius

Flying Amy died, alas, after sending this? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mayday

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sending this?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'flying amy died alas after' is the wordplay.
'flying' indicates an anagram (letters fly around into new positions).
'died alas' becomes 'day' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'amy' anagrammed gives 'may'.
'may'+'day'='MAYDAY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mayday that I've seen before include "Request for help" , "Bank holiday - distress signal" , "I'm in trouble" , "Cry of distress" , "Radio distress call" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app