What do the dings on an airplane mean

Cabin crew can also use the chimes to communicate with the flight deck. A single chime could be, "would you like coffee? Q: I was on a flight over the weekend and the temperature of the cabin had to be around sixty degrees or less the whole flight. Who determines the cabin temperature? Is it pre-set by the aircraft, airline, flight attendants or captain? Cox also mentioned a rare event that, when it happens, tends to scare passengers.

The engine backfires as a result, causing a sound like a shotgun blast, and the plane lurches. Normally everything will settle right down after, but occasionally this will happen multiple times in a row before everything stabilizes. It's like listening to your car. Jennifer Billock is an award-winning writer, bestselling author, and editor. She is currently dreaming of an around-the-world trip with her Boston terrier.

Check out her website at jenniferbillock. An airplane takes flight. Creative Commons More than 20 million people in the U. Three low chimes in a row means there is turbulence ahead and all crew should put away any meal carts and fasten their seatbelts.

Of course, each airline uses a customized system. According to the Huffington Post , United Airlines not only uses a single chime for passengers calling for service, but also to note that the seatbelt sign has been turned on or off.

This article originally appeared on Travelandleisure. A second "boing sound" is used when the seat belt sign has been turned off. Additionally, Qantas uses a "single chime" when passengers press their call bell for service, a "high-low chime" when crew members call each other from the inflight phone system, and three low chimes when the captain or crew has an urgent alert, such as turbulence ahead.

A spokesperson for United told the Huffington Post they use a single chime when passengers call for assistance, as well as when the seat-belt sign is turned on. Instead of a high-low chime, however, they use a "ding-dong" sound when pilots and crew members call each other. Southwest Airlines and American Airlines did not reveal their internal chime systems for security reasons, however, Southwest did admit to also using a single chime when the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign.