A319
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Human Factors
After completing my walk around in preparation [for the] flight; I entered the cockpit and began my flight deck equipment flow. It was brought to my attention several weeks ago that crew members have been finding tan colored; felt disks placed under the foam covers of the earpiece; and checking for these disks has now become an additional item on my equipment flow. I believe that these disks are being placed in front of the earpiece in an attempt to distort or eliminate the audio coming from the headset. I alert the Captain each time I discover these disks have been found in the headset so he too is aware of the problem as it relates to the safe operation of the aircraft.Placing these felt disks in front of the earpiece is a deliberate attempt to sabotage the aircraft and render the audio portion of the headset unusable.I can't be certain when these felt disks were placed in the headsets; but researching the inbound flight number and associated crew members would be a logical place to start. I will continue to submit an ASAP report each and every time that I find the aircraft has been tampered with in hopes that this will aid in determining which person; or persons are responsible for this unprofessional/criminal act. Operating in our environment is challenging enough without having someone intentionally disable the aircraft in an attempt to jeopardize the safety of the flight.
A319 FO reported that during preflight he sometimes finds the headsets have been tampered with; with apparent malicious intent.