Fasten Seat belts

[AllYourBase]

During a flight, you often hear the "pinging" sound that accompanies the fasten seat belt signs coming on, occuring on its own, sometimes in pairs, for no specific reason. I presume it is some sort of signal to the cabin crew from the fight deck. What is being signalled?

[andy hughes]

The 'ping' sound comes when someone presses the 'flight atteendent' button above their seat - it's to alert the cabin crew to see which seat's light has illuminated. Once a crew member sees it, they press a 'cancel' button on the nearest seat panel to them, and the ping sounds, again, alerting the remaining crew that someone is dealing with the passenger concerned.

[Ewood27]

As andy says, it may be the passenger call buttons causing the pinging, but it could also be a pre-arranged signal from the flight deck. The airline I know uses that signal shortly before landing to tell the cabin crew to sit down and strap in themselves. That would not qualify for "often" though.

[secretspirit]

If you mean the noise just before the flight when everyone has to put their seatbelts on I always just thought it was to draw your attention before the captain or attendant announces that you should do it.