EZY 737 300 on approach

[mattblack]

I was a returning from schiphol the other day on EZY and quite near to the front. On finals to Liverpool I heard a loud siren from within the cockpit similar to the whoop whoop which was followed by engine rpm increase. Is this normal on this aircraft type? For info, gear was still up and alt was probably 1000 or so.
I'm just curious as the cabin crew member who had been in the cockpit for some 10 mins appeared a minute or so later looking somewhat flustered. As a passenger it did make me a little nervous as I've never heard this noise before (cockpit door was closed) although I didn't hear any verbal alert after the siren.

[Boulderman]

probably the sound of the autopilot being disconnected.

[Kiltie]

Here we go with the insulting "Oh shutup and stop scaremongering you no-mark passenger" comments from our so called "professional" sky-Gods.

To answer with the respect you deserve as an enquirer, as the previous poster stated, this would probably be the autopilot disconnect chime or even a cabin crew "ding" to alert the flight deck to the fact that the cabin is secure for landing. Doubt it was around 1000' the gear came down; heights can be quite deceiving without an altimeter in front of you.

It could also be the "gear not down" horn when one retards below a certain power setting with a certain degree of flap selected under a nominated speed. The red-faced way out of this one (and I talk from experience) is to shove the power back on to shut the horn up, quickly followed by selecting the gear down!

All in all, probably nothing even bordering an incident.

Then again; "HORRIBLE SCARE DURING CRASH LANDING" might grace our front pages tomorrow!

[mattblack]

Thanks for the reply. No need to worry on the journo front though! I think the latter explanation fits as the gear did come down soon after and it was a definite whoop whoop rather than a chime. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity I suppose. I hope I didn't unintentionally malign the pilot as the flight was perfect, as it usually is with EZY.

[crewrest]

Hardly a Professional Pilot Rumour

[Baggy]

Autopilot disconnect is a wailer / siren - not a chime.

[Kiltie]

Baggy - mine is a chime. In fact a chime-chime. Sometimes if you don't cancel it it's a chime chime chime.

[Denti]

In the 737 autopilot disconnect is indeed a wailer, the gear-warning can be silenced on a flap setting of 10 and smaller (normally one of the pilots has its thumb on the horn-cutout-switch because it's damn annoying). If you select flaps 15 with the gear still up you can't silence the horn.

[Capt PPRuNe]

Almost certainly the autopilot disconnect siren. On the B737 it seems to me that it has to go through at least one cycle before quitting no matter how quickly you press the disconnect button a second time. At least on the B757 you only got a 'chirp' out of it if you were quick enough on the second button push.

As for chimes or whoops, not sure if customers get a choice when specifying their order requirements. If I had a choice then I'd go for a full chorus of 'Ride of the Valkyries' when I disconnect.

As for the timing of the autopilot disconnect, that is purely an individual choice subject to SOP's but I think most pilots enjoy a bit of hand flying for the last few miles at least. A non-event and hopefully explained to our SLF who had the courage to come on here and ask the question. Talk about 'lambs to the slaughter' and not even a whimper... I think you're all getting soft in your old age!

(just waiting for the Sun or The News of the World to pick up on this story)

[lunkenheimer]

For future reference, is there a source of .wav files of the various whoops, chirps, dings, etc. out there?

If there is, we could have a poll on the tonal and melodic qualities of the Boeings vs. the Airbus

[Nopax,thanx]

Just wait 'til NOKIA start making avionics........then you could have any 'ringtone' you liked!!!

[luoto]

.wav files could be good. Ideal to stick under Windows.

Whoop Whoop. Terrain... when you sit reading pprune for too long and the screensaver is about to kick in.

I think recording one in real life might not be err, the best practice

Hey Danny - earn yourself a 'tip fee' and call NotW directly

[Watching]

Would be interesting if Nokia provided Whoop Whoop Whoop ring tones on their phones.

The scenarios that could arise out of your phone ringing at the wrong time are endless !!!

Carry on Whooping

[luoto]

All phones must be switched off whilst on the aircraft...

Even Finns manage this, mostly, on internal AY flights. Although this is the only carrier where I believe I hear either "Your mobile phone must be turned off now" or similar. Not "if you have a ..."

Whoop Whoops here.
Simphonics

[Airbus A320]

The Boeing 737 alerts the autopilot disconnect by 3 repetitive klaxon (i.e. like the first notes of a siren), while the Airbus avionics gavour 3 high pitched chimes ... and now that another useless point has been added by me, I shall clear off before anyone has a dig at me.

Cheers

[lunkenheimer]

A320-No information is useless until proven otherwise

[PA38]

Whilst I was gaining my PPL I drove an ambulance that had a warning horn that was the exact copy of my truamahawks stall warner....
At 04:30 half asleep I *hit myself...
Still smile thinking about it cos my fellow crew member could't understand why I was suddenly WIDE awake...