Just returned to flying after 12 weeks off waiting for the Medical Profession, and UK CAA Medical Division, to decide that I have mild tinnitus and recommend I use an ANR headset.
Was told that my hearing loss was very good for a pilot with 30+ years of flying helicopters, and that I could not apportion blame for my tinnitus to the type I currently fly.
However ENT Specialist did not have the statistics of the operation that I work at, with 6 of the helicopter type in question, and a significant proportion of the 38 based pilots suffering from Hearing Loss / Tinnitus / Earache / etc. and this despite the use of CEPs / Custom Moulded 9 or 15 dB ear plugs / ANR or ENC headsets.
The type in question is the S92A, and while it has already been posted elsewhere about problems with blade slap, RHS cockpit window acting as a sub woofer, noisy heater, vent and glass cockpit fans, no-one has previously posted the electrical noise present on the intercom, which Sikorsky are aware of but leave it to the operators to filter out. Unfortunately it is still present even with the use of ENC modules.
Is it just coincidence that this electrical noise is of a similar frequency to my tinnitus, as our helicopters have not been modified yet?