Strange plane noises like ‘buzzing saw’ & ‘barking dog’ – what they mean and when to really worry

PLANES make all kinds of strange noises – and when an aircraft is mid-flight, some of them can be worrying.

From the “buzzing saw” to the “barking dog”, there are some noises passengers don’t want to hear.

However a thread busts the myths around the sounds that are actually nothing to stress about.

Patrick Sarnowski, who is a commercial pilot, advises passengers not to worry about the noises as the strange sounds are normal.

He said: “The Airbus A320 always fascinates me with bizarre noises that are all normal.  The main one is a "buzz saw" like sound at high thrust.  It really gets your attention, especially if you are forward of the engines.”

He went on to explain that this “buzzing saw noise is actually “caused by the tips of the fan blades going supersonic.”

"[But] it's more pronounced on some aircraft than others due to the design.  You'll hear it on the A320s (although not so much with the newer ones), but I also hear it a lot on 757s.”

Then there’s the “barking dog” noise – which anyone who has travelled by plane will have heard.

Patrick said: “Basically it's a hydraulic pump that makes a very strange sound, but is working as expected.”

There’s also a high-pitched whining noise that’s often heard by the gate just before take-off and then again after landing.

Quora user Marc Levy, who is a mechanical engineer in aviation and said reassuringly, “It's from an electric hydraulic pump used to open and close the cargo doors.

"[These noises] are normal, expected and part of the design of large commercial aircraft."

“[Worry] if you hear all the engines stop making noise.

“If this happens, it means the plane must land very soon (it can glide, but not forever).

“[However] it's normal for the engines to make a lot less noise when getting ready for landing.”

User Michael Burton, who is a professional aviator said: “The most distressing noise you're likely to hear on an airplane is either the screaming baby the row ahead of you or the flight attendant and/or pilot coming on to tell you that you are going to have to divert because of weather, and now you know you're going to miss your connection.”

He reminded readers that although it’s “hard to let go of irrational fears”, if something is going wrong then “you’ll know” - so there's no point worrying.

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