Great unwashed here!
Improved emergency announcements to passengers could be a very useful outcome of this incident. LHR’s idea of automatically using IFE screens has huge potential.
Voice PAs are full of trip wires. Remember the BA 747 and the volcanic ash, all four quit in the cruise. The flight crew took an age to switch from Boom Mics to Mask - so, in the interval, PAs didn’t get through to the cabin. (Is switching automatic now?)
There has to be a better way. On PA volume levels I remember a flight out of Singapore, early 80s, oddly enough a QF 747. Boarding was complete but people were still attacking overheads. A taped PA came on - and it was
deafening.
‘Stop what you are doing and listen’. So loud the passengers froze solid – and listened. It then went on the say that the Safety Brief would commence in one minute and if you didn’t pay attention you’d get a serious slap from a Flight Attendant.
I only heard it the once on Qantas and I wonder if it was an experiment that got knocked on the head by the
PR people. Too scary perhaps? I liked it. The point is - PA Systems can produce a huge volume - if you want them to.