An A319 captain reported that the flight attendant to cockpit call chime is so loud that it override...

Attributes
ACN	926450
Time
Date	201101
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Component
Aircraft Component	Cockpit/Cabin Communication
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 187 Flight Crew Total 12900 Flight Crew Type 4288
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Narrative:

The flight attendant call chime interrupted two radio calls on this trip. The chime is so loud and so long that no communication is possible until it stops going off. The first call interrupted an incoming call and we had to have a new clearance repeated; the second was outgoing and the controller could not understand my readback over the 'chime.' this is a major design flaw; a call from the back should never be the loudest warning/alert in the cockpit. Many times clearances are time critical and having to repeat things just adds to frequency congestion.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 Captain reported that the Flight Attendant to Cockpit Call Chime is so loud that it overrides all other flight station communications when it sounds.

Narrative: The Flight Attendant call chime interrupted two radio calls on this trip. The chime is so loud and so long that no communication is possible until it stops going off. The first call interrupted an incoming call and we had to have a new clearance repeated; the second was outgoing and the Controller could not understand my readback over the 'chime.' This is a major design flaw; a call from the back should never be the loudest warning/alert in the cockpit. Many times clearances are time critical and having to repeat things just adds to frequency congestion.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

An A319 captain reported that the flight attendant to cockpit call chime is so loud that it overrides all other flight station communications when it sounds.