Just when you think you’ve heard it all…… There have been multiple reports of a mysterious voice moaning and groaning on American Airlines in-flight announcement systems, sometimes lasting the duration of the flight, and nobody knows who’s responsible or how they pulled it off. It’s become a real head-scratcher, since it’s been reported on several different flights on both Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 flights. As for American Airlines, their official response is that it’s a mechanical issue. They have supposedly determined that the sounds are caused by an issue with the PA amplifier. They have assured the public that there has been no external access to the system. It leaves passengers asking how an amplifier malfunction can broadcast a human voice without external access? It’s not audio feedback, but clearly the vocalizations of a human. Engineers and hackers both have said they’re stumped by the occurrences. The only plausible theory came from a former avionics engineer, who said the culprit is most likely the medical intercom. There are jacks mounted in the overhead bins at intervals down the full length of the airplane that have both receive, transmit and key controls. All someone would need to do is plug a homemade dongle with a Bluetooth receiver into one of those, take a trip to the lavatory, and start making noises into a paired mic. The fact that the captain’s announcements are overriding it but the flight attendants aren’t is also an indication that it's coming from that system. For now, who is behind the sounds remains a mystery.
