NC headphones restrictions

[Milefest]

I agree with this change of policy, emergencies only ever occur during take off and landing and only during the safety announcement.[SUP] /s
[/SUP]
Think of all the documented examples of in-flight injury caused by NC headphones.. While we're at it we should ban deaf people, children and the elderly as they may not be able hear/understand the safety announcements.

 

[RooFlyer]

No mention of this on my QF flight HBA-MEL yesterday afternoon; was wearing ear-bud type NC thingys plugged into my own iPad as we taxied out. (I actually remove them during the minute of lift-off so I CAN hear what's going on).

On Air Canada there is a specific announcement made that only ear-bud type headphones plugged into the aircraft entertainment system are allowed during taxiing, take-off and landing and its reasonably well enforced.

 

[Mark3000]

I have no doubt I can hear announcements better than most elderly patients even with my NC headphones on.
How far do we take these ridiculous nanny state, lawyer driven rules??? Has anyone ever been hurt due to NC headphones???
What's next, mandatory audiometry before boarding?
Are they going to make sure elderly people have wax syringed out first?

 

[marki]

I have no doubt I can hear announcements better than most elderly patients even with my NC headphones on.
How far do we take these ridiculous nanny state, lawyer driven rules??? Has anyone ever been hurt due to NC headphones???
What's next, mandatory audiometry before boarding?
Are they going to make sure elderly people have wax syringed out first?

Like somebody else wrote earlier? facts are facts ANR are good at cutting out low frequencies © and since there is not much voice information in the lower frequencies we get a better boost and intelligibility and actually hear things better in the voice spectrum range.

The dotted line shows the extra acoustic attenuation from a well designed ANR headset. Extra protection from 63Hz to 1 KHz. The undotted line just shows what the attenuation looks like without ANR.

You can see from the the graph that the lower frequencies are not well attenuated by normal ear protection muffs

 

[boomy]

Well no NC restrictions on my flight today.
Hopefully yesterday was just sporadic decision by an overenthusiastic CSM.

 

[Milefest]

Yeah it might be just a case of a csm drunk with power. I hope this isn't a real policy.

 

[PLANT]

My flights with Bose i20 definitely allowed me to follow all conversations around me better than without them on.

 

[Lone Wolf]

No NC restrictions on my flight today either.

The only time I can recall something similar happening was when a CSM requested I remove my ear plugs for the safety demo. This was one or two years ago.

Nowadays I am usually plugged in gate to gate. NC makes a significant difference comfort-wise in my opinion.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Yeah it might be just a case of a csm drunk with power. I hope this isn't a real policy.

Yeah, we'd hate their power to keep you alive or prevent you from getting a serious injury.

 

[Mattg]

FWIW... I was on a Flybe Dash 8 flight yesterday. The cabin crew asked everyone to remove all headphones (not just noise-cancelling ones) for both takeoff and landing.

 

[Mark3000]

Surely it would be far worse for someone to be asleep than wearing NC headphones. In which case, by their logic thy should wake everyone up and prevent people from sleeping during takeoff.

 

[Milefest]

Yeah, we'd hate their power to keep you alive or prevent you from getting a serious injury.

You probably don't understand the expression. It refers to the irresponsible use of their authority, like enforcing policies that don't exist..

 

[Lone Wolf]

FWIW... I was on a Flybe Dash 8 flight yesterday.

That's enough of a reason to be plugged in, Dash 8s aren't exactly quiet to begin with ....

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You probably don't understand the expression. It refers to the irresponsible use of their authority, like enforcing policies that don't exist..

Understand the expression. But I think any member of crew should be encouraged and supported when they take an active interest in safety.

I haven't spoken to a member of cabin crew who doesn't think gate-to-gate use of headphones could be a potential danger in the event of an emergency.

 

[Milefest]

Understand the expression. But I think any member of crew should be encouraged and supported when they take an active interest in safety.

I haven't spoken to a member of cabin crew who doesn't think gate-to-gate use of headphones could be a potential danger in the event of an emergency.

I agree, we should ban anything that has a potential hazard, no matter how trivial.

Actually I'd prefer to put my trust with casa, atsb or the aviation safety advisors at QF. If it were actually dangerous it would already be banned, it's not like NC headphones are new either.

If there is documentation supporting the fact that NC headphones are dangerous, I'd be happy to support these kinds of policies. It's a slippery slope allowing anyone with any type of authority to make up rules on the go.

 

[marki]

It's hearing protection from the crazy noise created by the low buzzing © frequency of enforcing policies that don't exist !!!! I Hear you ;

 

[medhead]

I did notice that the PA announcements did not interrupt the IFE last week. Perhaps this new rule is related

 

[boomy]

I did notice that the PA announcements did not interrupt the IFE last week. Perhaps this new rule is related

Interesting. I remember it used to be the case on B767s but not on other aircrafts.

 

[medhead]

Interesting. I remember it used to be the case on B767s but not on other aircrafts.

That was on a 737 for me, XZA. Having said that only experienced in on that one aircraft, I thought it might have been broken or something.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Bose should install noise cancelling tech directly into aircraft (like I suggested years ago).
Not only would it remove the need to wear NC 24/7 on aircraft but it would also make audio tones clearer and easier on the ear. 737 speakers are terrible quality.