In-Cabin Noise Level of Wide-Body Aircraft — Airbus A380 the Quietest

Assessment of in-cabin noise of wide-body aircraft

This article shows decibel readings of major airplanes: Airbus A330-300ER, A350-900, A380–800, Boeing B777-200ER and B787-900. Measurements were taken on three different flights on each of the planes.

Not directly related to tinnitus but this is an extremely useful publication for all of us (including people googling whether they can fly a plane with tinnitus...)

Not surprisingly, A380 is the most quiet.

Highlights
•Provided an extensive data set of in-cabin noise measurements in six different aircraft models while in operation.

•The noise measurement has been performed in medium-haul and long-haul flights.

•The sound pressure levels of in-cabin noise have been measured on two different decibel scales, namely, A-weighted [dB(A)] and C-weighted scales [dB(C)].

•The results confirmed the quietest aircraft, as claimed by some published reports.

Conclusion
In this paper, the cabin noise of six major wide-body aircraft, namely Airbus A330, A380, A350, and Boeing B777 (2 variants) and B787, was recorded using a calibrated in-house developed software for smartphones regular commercial long-haul flights. The noise level measured by the app for the Samsung smartphones used in the study had been calibrated against a typical type 1 sound level meter. In terms of cabin noise, Airbus A350-900 was found to have a slightly higher average (Equivalent continuous sound pressure level) of 74.9 dB(A) and 87.9 dB(C) compared to that of Boeing B787 of 72.7 dB(A) and 86.9 dB(C), respectively. The difference was deemed to be minimal as the difference was within 1 to 3 dB. Airbus A380 was found to have the lowest cabin noise with average values during cruising 69.5 dB(A) and 83.7 dB(C), confirming the typical news report among the quietest aircraft.

The findings did confirm that the cabin noise in terms of dB(A) had improved significantly compared to the noise levels reported in earlier studies in the late 90s contributed by improved engine performance and innovation in aircraft designs. For example, the noise levels for the two modern aircrafts A350-900 and B787-900, were about 75 dB during the long duration of cruising, and therefore there was no risk of violating the 8-h TWA. However, the present study highlighted the significant presence of low-frequency noise which was the leading cause for the in terms of dB(C) to be more than 10 dB higher than the in dB(A). The reported studies on the health effect of low-frequency noise on crew and passengers were minimal. Such detailed studies would be required for crew and passengers soon.

 

Interesting! Thanks for posting. I've been debating with myself whether noise cancelling ear phones are enough protection. I've been taking earplugs but I also hate being stuck occluded with my tinnitus for long hauls.

 

Useful, but what about barotrauma? That's what I fear about flying.

 

Is a 14-hour flight at 75 dB safe for a person with tinnitus? Can it cause more hearing damage?

 

Probably fine. But I’ll be wearing earplugs for most of my flights now.

 

I was recently on a flight thinking that a study of hearing loss with flight attendants would be very informative. You could capture across age groups and compare to normal population. And longitudinally. If it looks bad, things need to change. If not, we know that those noise levels are generally safe because of the duration and repetition of exposure these people endure.

Airline operators would probably hate this for fear of indication of liability.