A300 captain reported severe VHF radio static at FL360 in the vicinity of thunderstorms while IMC. A...

Narrative:

During cruise flight at FL360 there was a line of thunderstorms ahead and to our left about 100 miles ahead of us. ATC even advised of us the weather. We asked for and received clearance to deviate right (east) of the line of weather. At this point we were VMC. At some point we entered IMC conditions. We were not in any rain or precipitation; had a nice smooth ride. The radios both comm 1 and comm 2 both began to squeal and have very loud static. At this point we could not communicate to ATC or hear ATC. We tried both comm one and comm two. We were able to relay a couple of messages thru another plane on guard frequency; which included a frequency change. The new frequency gave us a descent and we could communicate reliably at this point; the static and squeal remained however. It has been years ago since I have had something similar to this. The airbus had a tendency to have scratchy radios if you were in moisture. I suspect some static dischargers (static wicks) are not bonded properly or blown out. Regularly checking the static dischargers.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A300 Captain reported severe VHF radio static at FL360 in the vicinity of thunderstorms while IMC. ATC relayed the flight a new frequency through guard to clear communications.

Narrative: During cruise flight at FL360 there was a line of thunderstorms ahead and to our left about 100 miles ahead of us. ATC even advised of us the weather. We asked for and received clearance to deviate right (east) of the line of weather. At this point we were VMC. At some point we entered IMC conditions. We were not in any rain or precipitation; had a nice smooth ride. The radios both comm 1 and comm 2 both began to squeal and have very loud static. At this point we could not communicate to ATC or hear ATC. We tried both comm one and comm two. We were able to relay a couple of messages thru another plane on guard frequency; which included a frequency change. The new frequency gave us a descent and we could communicate reliably at this point; the static and squeal remained however. It has been years ago since I have had something similar to this. The Airbus had a tendency to have scratchy radios if you were in moisture. I suspect some static dischargers (static wicks) are not bonded properly or blown out. Regularly checking the static dischargers.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1364615
Time
Date	201606
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Air/Ground Communication
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

A300 captain reported severe VHF radio static at FL360 in the vicinity of thunderstorms while IMC. ATC relayed the flight a new frequency through guard to clear communications.