Flight attendant reveals the plane noise you never want to hear

A flight attendant has broken down the meanings of chimes on a flight, including an (unlikely) sound you never want to hear.

In a viral clip making its way across TikTok, Tommy (@tommycimato) said: "Have you ever heard these sounds on a plane before? Do you ever wonder what that means?"

He then played one chime, frequently heard on flights – this means a passenger requires a flight attendant's assistance.

"If you hear just one tone, that means that a passenger is calling one of the flight attendants from their seat, or they could be calling us from the lavatory," he explained.

Two chimes, also known as a "hi/low", means a crew member is trying to get ahold of a fellow employee.

"A high-low chime means that one flight attendant is trying to call the other flight attendant or the flight deck is trying to call us," Tommy continued.

However, three chimes can be a cause for concern, but Tommy reassured viewers, "you never have to hear that."

"If you hear three of those high-low chimes, that means it’s an emergency," Tommy added.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The video racked up almost a million likes and thousands of comments from stunned TikTokers.

"Almost 5 years of flying to and from college and I never knew," one said, while another blissfully unaware user wrote: "Fun fact... I always thought that was a sound for you need to put your seatbelt on or something".

"Flight attendant here," a third penned, before disclaiming: "While this may be true for some airlines, it’s not for others so if you hear the 3 chimes don’t go panicking just yet."

Meanwhile, one joked: "It actually means 'okaaaaay let's go!'"

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.