ANR Headsets and A320/B757 SOPs
We are having a discussion on our company site about the introduction of ANR headsets for all pilots and any required SOP changes that may be required on our fly by wire Airbus and B757 fleets.
If anyone flies for a company that uses ANR sets routinely, and also operates these types, would you give us your 2c worth on the SOPs in force, please? Of particular interest are the following:
1. Are ANRs used throughout the flight regime or are they deactivated in the take-off or approach phases?
2. If they are used throughout the whole flight what are the recommended intercom switch positions, particularly during the take-off and landing phases?
3. Have there been any flight safety related incidents caused by the use of ANR headsets in the critical phases of flight, or any by ANR’s not being used?
Any other comments would be most welcome. Just so you are aware of the rules and culture we operated under, we're a UK based company, but we would welcome comments from any part of the world. I believe BA issue, or at least use, ANRs to all of their crews including the Airbus FBW fleet, so comments and experiences from their crews would be of interest as they have the biggest fleet over here.
Thanks.