V-Flyer

I was on VS003 back in April of this year and mid flight there was a 'ping' signal over the PA system which consisted of 3 rapid pings which carried on for a while. The cabin crew looked a little worried :0 and stopped what they were doing and some of them went quickly to the front of the aircraft. They reappeared a few moments later looking relieved. What does the 3 ping signal mean?

Smoke detector going off. Could be set off in the toilet for a reason as simple as deodorant being used near the sensor.

thanks for the prompt reply

I have heard a triple alarm once - this was after the crew sprayed the cabin with insecticide in Johannesburg before take off.

This made me wonder what other 'bell codes' VS use.

One I have heard a few times is a double or triple bing bong

Does anyone here know the common ones they use?

Think 2 is for crew to take seats for take off/landing. Might be for something else during the flight.

Was once told that 5 meant there was a major problem

ccarmock wrote:I have heard a triple alarm once - this was after the crew sprayed the cabin with insecticide in Johannesburg before take off.

Insecticides set off the smoke alarms quite often - nothing to worry about.

Think 2 is for crew to take seats for take off/landing. Might be for something else during the flight.

Was once told that 5 meant there was a major problem

The seat belt signs being flashed twice is the sign of an imminent take-off landing.

I won't be going into anymore detail about other bings/bongs/alarms - you have no need to know them. But there's no such thing as 5 pings so you were told wrong.

Won't ask any specific questions about specific bings and bongs Tinks but are the pings and pongs airline specific or is there an international standard?

tontybear wrote:Won't ask any specific questions about specific bings and bongs Tinks but are the pings and pongs airline specific or is there an international standard?

Some are airline specific and some are aircraft standard.

A quick Google shows it varies from plane to plane and airline to airline, in both sound, combination of sound and meaning.

Darren Wheeler wrote:A quick Google shows it varies from plane to plane and airline to airline, in both sound, combination of sound and meaning.

I googled the question

'what do aircraft pings mean'

result = this thead came up 3rd !

tontybear wrote:

Darren Wheeler wrote:A quick Google shows it varies from plane to plane and airline to airline, in both sound, combination of sound and meaning.

I googled the question

'what do aircraft pings mean'

result = this thead came up 3rd !

LOL! Fame at last!

But there's no such thing as 5 pings so you were told wrong.

I have a friend with the surname Ping - if he travels with his family you would have 5 very noisy Pings throughout the flight Sorry Tinks, couldn'd resist!

Tinkerbelle wrote:Smoke detector going off. Could be set off in the toilet for a reason as simple as deodorant being used near the sensor.

Mrs JP knows all about that

Normally the strange pings etc is my phone getting messages because I forgot to turn the thing off.

by Tinkerbelle » 09 Aug 2010, 23:09

ccarmock wrote:
I have heard a triple alarm once - this was after the crew sprayed the cabin with insecticide in Johannesburg before take off.


Insecticides set off the smoke alarms quite often - nothing to worry about.


Think 2 is for crew to take seats for take off/landing. Might be for something else during the flight.

Was once told that 5 meant there was a major problem

The seat belt signs being flashed twice is the sign of an imminent take-off landing.

I won't be going into anymore detail about other bings/bongs/alarms - you have no need to know them. But there's no such thing as 5 pings so you were told wrong.

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You are probably right we don't need to know - if its wrong its wrong, but I was told by a former work colleague who used to work for Virgin. Can't remember her exact role, but she was in the team that dealt with the Virgin airbus that crash landed at Heathrow over 10 years ago.