Is it possible to play music in the cockpit?

Question

I was wondering that if a pilot's flight had been delayed or a pilot had nothing to do, would it be possible for a pilot to play music in the cockpit?

Are you talking about commercial pilots or GA? My audio panel has a music input, and even a phone input. — Ron Beyer, Jul 21 '18 at 18:59
Possible duplicate of Is it allowed to listen to music while piloting a plane? — TomMcW, Jul 21 '18 at 23:02
This question asks, and the answers address, is it *possible, while the suggested dupe discusses, is it allowed*. Not really the same question, nor quite the same answers. Voting to leave open. — Ralph J, Jul 22 '18 at 04:32
Question does not exclude the hypothetic wish to bring a saxophone or a triangle, the latter having more chances to jam flight controls if lost in cockpit. — user721108, Jul 24 '18 at 10:50
@qqjkztd, Well, even a more advanced music making has been done this way :) — Zeus, Jul 25 '18 at 03:14

score 17 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 22 '18 at 02:26

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Depending on the equipment in the aircraft, the answer may very well be yes. A lot of modern headsets in civilian aircraft (particularly those with active noise reduction) have bluetooth capability that allows music streaming. Some more modern audio panels even have music inputs now. I even flew in an Archer that had a CD player on the panel and wired into the audio panel.

If you are lucky enough to have an automatic direction finder (ADF) eating up useful load in your aircraft you may be able to tune into AM radio stations. This may have contributed to the crash of Varig Flight 254.

While you are legally allowed to do this (at least in small planes) the sterile cockpit rules that most if not all air carriers have prevent professional pilots from doing so, as @Carlo Felicione points out in the comments

edited Jul 22 '18 at 02:26

isanae

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answered Jul 21 '18 at 18:54

Dave

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Good post, though I might add some information in there about sterile cockpit rules for professional pilots . – Romeo_4808N Jul 21 '18 at 19:45
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The politics of pilot distractions has changed in the last 15 years so things may have changed. But 15years ago Atlas freighter pilots were allowed (and somewhat encouraged) to use laptops for movies and iPods for music while in the cockpit to help stave off boredom on long flights. The reasoning was that kept their brain alert and awake and increased safety. – jwzumwalt Jul 25 '18 at 07:18

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 21 '18 at 19:10

With the proper equipment, it is possible.

For example on the Garmin GTN 750. Music is listed as a service on this avionic.

And you can even create multiple music channels and assign it to different people on the intercom, of course with mute feature when someone speaks either on the intercom or radio.

Is it possible to play music in the cockpit?

2 Answers2