All plane passengers can’t help but overhear the doorbell-resembling noises that sound overhead at various stages throughout a flight.
But as many would have noticed, the alerts aren’t always communicating the seatbelt sign.
Sometimes the sounds play out for seemingly no reason at all.
Now cabin crew have revealed that they in fact always have a meaning.
The alerts are used as a secret code for the airline staff to communicate to each other, with different sounds attached to different messages.
Revealed by Australian airline Qantas on the cabin crew blog, the information lets passengers in on the flying mystery.
Crew said: “On our Airbus aircraft you’ll hear the ‘dong’ sound shortly after take-off – this sound lets crew know that the landing gear is being retracted.
“Depending on where you are sitting, you can probably hear or feel it moving – if you’re downstairs in the pointy end of one of our Boeing 747’s – you’re basically sitting right on top of the front landing gear.”
The second sound usually comes after the seatbelt sign is switched off.
Proceeding ‘dongs’ use high or low chimes to communicate different messages.
A single chime means a passenger has asked for service, which lights up in the galley and over the passenger’s seat.
A high-low ‘dong’ is the crew phone ringtone from one galley to the next, asking for something like more snacks from another section.
Three chimes with two low ‘dongs’ communicates a priority message from the pilot or other crew members.
They explained: “This could be letting them know there may be turbulence ahead, so they should start putting away the meal carts and be ready in case the fasten seat belt sign comes on.”
A pilot recently gave an on-board revelation of his own, for how passengers can cope with turbulence.
Captain Ron Nielsen recommends using a pen and paper to write your name over and over with your non-dominant hand, in order to distract you from the bumpy ride.
