Landing on the Roof: CVN Noise

Abstract

ABSTRACT There has been renewed interest in the human effects of excessive intermittent airborne noise occurring on the 03 Level (Gallery Deck) and on the Flight Deck during aircraft launch and recovery operations (“Flight Ops”) aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. High noise levels cause crew fatigue, lost work hours, high crew turnover, safety problems, and worst case, hearing damage or loss of life. The cost of this problem can be quantified as part of the Total Ownership Cost of the ship by taking into account such factors as the cost of veterans' hearing compensation, crew retention bonuses, and crew turnover. This interest has lead to at‐sea measurements of intermittent noise levels during flight operations on two operational aircraft carriers. This data provides the first detailed, systematic quantification of sound pressure levels, noise frequency content, noise time duration and frequency of events. The classic acoustic source/path/receiver approach was used to investigate noise sources and paths associated with the transmission of aircraft and machinery noise. Solutions take a total ship engineering approach, combining Total Ownership Cost, Human Engineering, and industrial partnerships to develop cost effective solutions to mitigate noise associated with flight operations.