A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Confusion; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Human Factors
During the beginning of the takeoff roll; at approximately 40 KTS; three or four faint beeps were heard. The source of the beeps was unknown at the time and the take-off was rejected at about 50 KTS. Upon clearing the runway I realized the beeps were probably from my phone. It was in the airplane mode; however; when the low battery warning sounds it makes a beeping noise - the battery charge was low. To be safe we verified the condition of the aircraft. There were no ECAM messages; no status messages and no lights illuminated anywhere in the cockpit that would indicate an abnormality. I contacted the A Flight Attendant to verify the status of the cabin and check the forward lavatory. No abnormalities were found. The decision was made to continue the flight following a 20 minute brake cooling delay. (Due to the aircraft having somewhat high brake temperatures inbound we began the take-off/RTO event with 240 degree brake temps. Consequently; after the RTO the brakes reached 345 degrees). The flight continued without incident. Turn phone off completely rather than using the airplane mode.
After takeoff clearance received; Captain advanced thrust to FLEX as aircraft started to roll; heard an unidentifiable warning/alarm. Captain brought thrust to idle and stopped aircraft. Max speed reached about 50 KTS. Exited runway and discussed possible problem. Warning sounded like a (home) fire alarm or possible phone. Called flight attendants; one had heard warning bell/alarm coming from front of cabin area. No other problems noted with any systems or ECAM. Thought warning tone probably came from unknown phone. After brakes cooled; continued back to runway for takeoff.
A319 flight crew reports a rejected takeoff when three faint beeps are heard as the Captain is initiating the takeoff. Once clear of the runway the sound is traced to the Captain's cell phone which had been placed in airplane mode but was emitting a low battery warning.