The Meaning of the Warnings You Hear on Airplanes

Air travel can be noisy. You go from the loud, overlapping sounds of an airport terminal to the whistles, hums and beeps inside the plane. Then, as you sit in your seat, you’ll hear a series of sounds before, during, and after your flight.

As it turns out, different tones and combinations of sounds send different messages to and between pilots, passengers and cabin crew. Below is a description of some of these warnings and their actual meaning.

The importance of warnings on airplanes

Want to know what the bells and beeps you hear on airplanes really mean? While there are some differences between airlines, here are some examples of what these sounds convey:

Double call before departure

According to Jack Herstam , an airline pilot and former flight instructor, this may mean the pilot is telling flight attendants that departure is imminent. he says this could mean the pilots were given permission to line up and wait on the runway or that they were cleared to take off.

Single beep shortly after takeoff

A single beep after being in the air for several minutes usually means the plane has reached 10,000 feet, Herstam said . At this point, if the air is smooth, flight attendants are allowed to leave their seats, and the pilot will likely soon make announcements, including informing passengers that larger electronic devices may be in use.

Two-tone sound signal during flight.

According to Tommy Cimato , a flight attendant whose viral TikTok videos explain some of the mysteries of air travel, when a flight is underway and a high-low signal sounds, it means one flight attendant is communicating with another or that the cabin crew is trying to reach them.

Single beep during flight

When a plane reaches cruising altitude, one beep can mean several different things. As Cimato notes , a single sound could mean that a passenger has pressed the call button and is trying to get the flight attendant’s attention. You may also hear a single beep when the fasten seat seat symbol is turned on or off, including after the aircraft has landed.

Three chimes in a row during the flight

According to Cimato, hearing three chimes in a row during a flight is extremely rare. But if you do hear the sound, it means there’s an emergency, he explains .

However, other airline employees noted that while three-beep alerts are priority messages from pilots to flight attendants, they do not always mean there is an immediate life-threatening emergency. For example, it could also mean that there is severe turbulence and they should remove their drink carts and sit down.

It’s important to note that while there are similarities between airlines, there is no one universal horn code worldwide, so some of these sounds may have different meanings depending on the carrier.