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- readytotaxi
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Automated cockpit voice - male or female
What is the history behind the voice, are certain phrases pitched to be more attention grabbing than others. How many phrases are there?
Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
Google "bitchin betty" for starters, plenty of info out there on the subject.
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- thewizbizman
- Posts: 172
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Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
So this is one of my favorite things to talk about, way back in the day commercial aircraft had redundant and annoying warnings to get the pilots attention when something was wrong with the aircraft or it was not in the correct configuration for what pilot wanted to do. A lot of the times these systems would go off at the wrong time or when pilots used differential thrust during taxi. Now as they were annoying and pilots hated them, they solved it by pulling a certain circuit breaker on the board. Now them pulling this fuse caused a few accidents and the NTSB found out pilots were doing it and Boeing / Airbus / McDouglass corrected their systems and also made them less annoying and redundant.
Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
was this not part of the issue with the A340 at Airbus during its pre flight final engine testing? IE they pulled a fuse to silence an annoying alarm and it cut the brakes?
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- Starlionblue
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Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
wa5 wrote:was this not part of the issue with the A340 at Airbus during its pre flight final engine testing? IE they pulled a fuse to silence an annoying alarm and it cut the brakes?
The ETIHAD ground impact? It didn't happen like that. For starters, there are no fuses (or more accurately circuit breakers) on the 340 flight deck. Also the logic for the ground proximity doesn't work like that.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/etihad.asp
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- kitplane01
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Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
readytotaxi wrote:What is the history behind the voice, are certain phrases pitched to be more attention grabbing than others. How many phrases are there?
In my favorite seaplane the system either
- In a female voice says "Gear up water landing"
- -Or-
- In a male voice says "Gear down runway landing"
I love that they switch genders depending on the message. Smart of them.
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- Starlionblue
- Posts: 21730
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Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
In the 350, the ROW/ROP system is manned by a very British dude with a top hat and a monocle. He bellows things like "RUNWAY TOO SHORT" and "MAX REVERSE" at ear-shattering volume. The stall, windshear and EGPWS warnings are much more mellow.
Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
When GPWS was first installed in the CH-53E in the mid/late '90s, it had a female voice (I have no idea whether that has changed or not since late '03); I don't recall any of the callouts being more urgent-sounding than others. The BANK ANGLE callout seemed to have a bit more "attitude" or "sneer" to it, but it wasn't more urgent than the other callouts.
I recall being regularly directed by pilots to pull the GPWS CB while doing Confined Area Landing practice flights; after about the third landing (of many) with Betty living up to her reputation for bitching, it was more distraction than safety feature. I think a software update "fixed the glitch", and we stopped having to pull the CB.
The KC-10 has a male voice for the automation callouts, and a few of them definitely sound more urgent than others; WINDSHEAR and PULL UP! will get your attention even if you don't understand the significance of the words.
The S-92 has a male voice for the automation. The main gearbox oil callouts are in a different male voice than the others, and he definitely ensures the GEARBOX PRESSURE and MAIN GEARBOX OIL OUT messages cut through any fog that may have developed between the headset cups in the cockpit.
I recall being regularly directed by pilots to pull the GPWS CB while doing Confined Area Landing practice flights; after about the third landing (of many) with Betty living up to her reputation for bitching, it was more distraction than safety feature. I think a software update "fixed the glitch", and we stopped having to pull the CB.
The KC-10 has a male voice for the automation callouts, and a few of them definitely sound more urgent than others; WINDSHEAR and PULL UP! will get your attention even if you don't understand the significance of the words.
The S-92 has a male voice for the automation. The main gearbox oil callouts are in a different male voice than the others, and he definitely ensures the GEARBOX PRESSURE and MAIN GEARBOX OIL OUT messages cut through any fog that may have developed between the headset cups in the cockpit.
Re: Automated cockpit voice - male or female
In many newer types, some of the voice commands are configured by user option. The Ejets are a great example. TCAS can be male or female depending on the Airplane Personality Module (APM). Most operators in the Americas have a female voice. The Middle Eastern operators typically go with male.
Different EGPWS warnings may be different voices based on the severity. Male voices are typically used in more urgent situations because it sounds more urgent.
Different EGPWS warnings may be different voices based on the severity. Male voices are typically used in more urgent situations because it sounds more urgent.
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