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I'm struggling to understand how this would explain the account here: >Then the master power button up at 1L for the cabin power kept getting I pushed so it wo

I'm struggling to understand how this would explain the account here: >Then the master power button up at 1L for the cabin power kept getting I pushed so it would shut off all the IFE, seat power and outlets. I had to push the button on again about 3 times inflight. Then the 2 got a call with the same groaning noise and thought it was one of us playing a joke but it wasn't us. >It certainly was freaking all of us and the passengers. They wanted off the plane as bad as we did. The 2 be FAs said they had been on the plane the other day and the same thing happened. I had a visual on each FA when the noise would come over the PA and one time when the FO was doing a break so unless the captain was playing a long sick, joke I don't have an explanation. https://twitter.com/xJonNYC/status/1572358118985633795 https://twitter.com/xJonNYC/status/1572358118985633795 Any ideas?

culi 4y ago
> Then the master power button up at 1L for the cabin power kept getting I pushed so it would shut off all the IFE I can't even get passed the first sentence of this. What does any of this mean?
- saryant 4y ago
  1L is the forward-most door on the port (left) side. IFE is in flight entertainment.
- iudqnolq 4y ago
  Uninformed guess: "The master [public address system] power button [located] up by [seat] 1L kept getting pushed so it would shut off all the IFE [(inflight entertainment)]" This makes sense, because for safety reasons all the entertainment is paused when they use the public address system.
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
    > for safety reasons all the entertainment is paused when they use the public address system. It's more common for the entertainment to be muted without being paused. I assume that's as a convenience to the passengers.
    - GekkePrutser 4y ago
      Yeah great convenience to miss part of the movie because they want to sell inflight shopping :P I had totally forgotten about this because I haven't flown long-haul in decades. I suppose these days I would just watch video on my tablet anyway.
      - thaumasiotes 4y ago
        > Yeah great convenience to miss part of the movie Nobody said a feature implemented as a convenience to the user had to make things more convenient for the user. They're barely even related concepts. https://chainsawsuit.krisstraub.com/20171207.shtml https://chainsawsuit.krisstraub.com/20171207.shtml
    - iudqnolq 4y ago
      You're right, I forgot because I have just used my phone the last few years. Now I remember I always found it incredibly annoying because I'd miss part of the dialogue of what I was watching.
    - philliphaydon 4y ago
      When I’ve been on long flights watching movies it pauses the movie. Not mute… maybe it depends on the airline.
  - nightpool 4y ago
    I think "master power button" probably more clearly means some sort of master control switch for in-seat passenger accessory power, since it's described as shutting off all in-flight entertainment AND seat power. The sort of thing you're supposed to press during takeoff and landing, not during announcements
bagels 4y ago
It's hard to follow what they meant when describing the button pushing.
copperx 4y ago
While it is plausible that the hack compromises the entire comm system, it's unlikely. My bet is that the steward made an incorrect association between the sounds and normal system behavior. These inaccurate retellings are extremely common in ghost stories. Only time will tell, but I'm almost certain I'm right on this one.
- amscanne 4y ago
  This makes a lot of sense, but I’ll add that it’s also possible that the association was correct, but not for the assumed reason. For example, maybe the plane had a partially faulty breaker for the IFE, and there was a likelihood of tripping every time the PA system was used. (The button probably isn’t a breaker, but there’s a world of similar explanations.)

culi 4y ago

> Then the master power button up at 1L for the cabin power kept getting I pushed so it would shut off all the IFE I can't even get passed the first sentence of this. What does any of this mean?

saryant 4y ago
1L is the forward-most door on the port (left) side. IFE is in flight entertainment.
iudqnolq 4y ago
Uninformed guess: "The master [public address system] power button [located] up by [seat] 1L kept getting pushed so it would shut off all the IFE [(inflight entertainment)]" This makes sense, because for safety reasons all the entertainment is paused when they use the public address system.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > for safety reasons all the entertainment is paused when they use the public address system. It's more common for the entertainment to be muted without being paused. I assume that's as a convenience to the passengers.
  - GekkePrutser 4y ago
    Yeah great convenience to miss part of the movie because they want to sell inflight shopping :P I had totally forgotten about this because I haven't flown long-haul in decades. I suppose these days I would just watch video on my tablet anyway.
    - thaumasiotes 4y ago
      > Yeah great convenience to miss part of the movie Nobody said a feature implemented as a convenience to the user had to make things more convenient for the user. They're barely even related concepts. https://chainsawsuit.krisstraub.com/20171207.shtml https://chainsawsuit.krisstraub.com/20171207.shtml
  - iudqnolq 4y ago
    You're right, I forgot because I have just used my phone the last few years. Now I remember I always found it incredibly annoying because I'd miss part of the dialogue of what I was watching.
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    When I’ve been on long flights watching movies it pauses the movie. Not mute… maybe it depends on the airline.
- nightpool 4y ago
  I think "master power button" probably more clearly means some sort of master control switch for in-seat passenger accessory power, since it's described as shutting off all in-flight entertainment AND seat power. The sort of thing you're supposed to press during takeoff and landing, not during announcements

bagels 4y ago

It's hard to follow what they meant when describing the button pushing.

copperx 4y ago

While it is plausible that the hack compromises the entire comm system, it's unlikely. My bet is that the steward made an incorrect association between the sounds and normal system behavior. These inaccurate retellings are extremely common in ghost stories. Only time will tell, but I'm almost certain I'm right on this one.

amscanne 4y ago
This makes a lot of sense, but I’ll add that it’s also possible that the association was correct, but not for the assumed reason. For example, maybe the plane had a partially faulty breaker for the IFE, and there was a likelihood of tripping every time the PA system was used. (The button probably isn’t a breaker, but there’s a world of similar explanations.)