Ever heard a random beep or whir during your flight? Believe it or not, there's a meaning for all those strange plane noises.
8 Noises You Hear on Airplanes—and What They Mean
Pings and chimes on a plane
You might hear one, two, or ten chimes on your flight—but what do they mean? They’re more than just background noise: They generally signal when you should stay seated and when you can move around the cabin. So that ping is letting you know the best time to use the plane bathroom from a safety standpoint.
But depending on what airline you’re flying, they likely also mean something else. Airline pilots and crews often use sounds to communicate with one another, according to Keyes. “Each airline has its own internal language for what specific chimes mean, and they can vary by length, pitch, and repetition,” Keyes told Reader’s Digest. “Think of it as a 30,000-foot Morse code.”
The codes may indicate a need for seatbelts, passengers requiring assistance, upcoming turbulence, that the plane has reached a certain altitude … or almost anything else. Each airline develops its own code language, and no two airlines are the same, so it’s nearly impossible to generalize.
Banging while boarding
It’s common to hear banging coming from below when boarding a plane or waiting in your seat at the gate before takeoff. But don’t worry: This is most likely just the cargo, or the luggage, being loaded onto the plane beneath the cabin.
A puff of air while boarding
Before takeoff, one of the first plane noises you’ll hear is a puff or whoosh of air coming from inside the aircraft. This sound occurs when the plane’s ventilation system switches from an outside system to one inside the aircraft. The lights inside may also flicker when this happens
Two thumps and a high-pitched whir right after takeoff
When the plane lifts off the ground, the pilot pulls the wheels into the plane’s body and closes the flaps behind them, one at a time (thump, thump). That strange whir comes from the pilot retracting the wing flaps that were needed to get the plane off the ground. Both of those disconcerting plane noises are part of the process of “cleaning up the plane” to make it streamlined for flight.
“Doors to arrival” and “cross-check”
When an airplane’s doors are closed, an escape slide is automatically enabled for safety reasons. That’s why you’ll hear the phrase “doors to arrival” as you approach the gate. It reminds flight attendants to disarm the slide. “Cross-check” is a directive for the crew to double-check each other’s doors for the slide.
“All call”
You might hear this overhead or from one of the flight attendants. This announcement is a request for a sort of conference call for the crew. Each flight attendant calls in to report that he or she has completed the assigned safety checks.
A rumble during landing
As the airplane begins its descent, the engine noise will reduce since it is no longer accelerating. To slow the aircraft down so that it can land safely, the flight spoilers—the long boards on the wing that lift to increase drag—will be activated. When they are activated, passengers in the cabin hear a rumble and feel vibrations.
Revving engines during touchdown
Once the plane has touched down on land, it sounds like the engines are revving for takeoff. This is just the captain reversing the engine thrusts to help slow the aircraft down. When this happens, you’ll hear the loud noise of the engines and feel pushed forward in your seat because of rapid deceleration. Don’t worry: It’s just another of those weird plane noises that are actually normal.
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Sources:
- Scott Keyes, founder of Going, a service that helps travelers find flight deals
