Narrative:

During the course of the 5:45 hour flight the level of noise in the cockpit resulted in excess of 15 miss-communications with ATC. At one point in the flight we discussed diverting the flight and landing short due to the noise. We agreed after some discussion to continue to our destination. By the time we landed we were both extremely fatigued. The first officer complained about physical discomfort in his ears. This aircraft is; by far; one of the worst for noise I have flown to date and is unsafe for flight in this condition. I wrote this up as 'so excessive it interferes with the safe operation of aircraft.' we requested maintenance meet the aircraft on arrival. I explained the plane was unsafe for flight; and if assigned this aircraft for the return flight both pilots would refuse to accept it. We had 15 minute discussion on new procedures for cleaning duct work. I was advised that a complete duct cleaning requires 36 hours to complete. While I understand this procedure is expensive and requires valuable down time; it must be done. After checking the maintenance log I see only a partial cleaning was performed. This band-aid approach we take to proper maintenance of these aircraft is woefully inadequate. In my opinion this 'patch it up and send it down line' attitude we have at our company is nothing short of dangerous and; if left unchecked; will end in a hull loss. That being said; at this time I am officially requesting of the company; the union and the FAA to be permitted to carry an approved noise meter for the purpose of accurately recording noise levels during non sterile portions of my flights. I would be willing to work with maintenance control in any fashion. If safety is truly our number one priority; then it is now time to act!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 flight crew wrote up the aircraft for excessive noise in the cockpit and described the company actions to address the issue on their fleet as inadequate.

Narrative: During the course of the 5:45 hour flight the level of noise in the cockpit resulted in excess of 15 miss-communications with ATC. At one point in the flight we discussed diverting the flight and landing short due to the noise. We agreed after some discussion to continue to our destination. By the time we landed we were both extremely fatigued. The First Officer complained about physical discomfort in his ears. This aircraft is; by far; one of the worst for noise I have flown to date and is UNSAFE for flight in this condition. I wrote this up as 'so excessive it interferes with the safe operation of aircraft.' We requested Maintenance meet the aircraft on arrival. I explained the plane was unsafe for flight; and if assigned this aircraft for the return flight both pilots would refuse to accept it. We had 15 minute discussion on new procedures for cleaning duct work. I was advised that a complete duct cleaning requires 36 hours to complete. While I understand this procedure is expensive and requires valuable down time; it MUST be done. After checking the maintenance log I see only a partial cleaning was performed. This band-aid approach we take to proper maintenance of these aircraft is woefully inadequate. In my opinion this 'patch it up and send it down line' attitude we have at our Company is nothing short of dangerous and; if left unchecked; will end in a hull loss. That being said; at this time I am officially requesting of the Company; the Union and the FAA to be permitted to carry an approved noise meter for the purpose of accurately recording noise levels during non sterile portions of my flights. I would be willing to work with Maintenance Control in any fashion. If safety is truly our number one priority; then it is now time to act!

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.