Just listening to JFK Tower over the past few hrs (decided it'd be fun with the tornado warning) and an interesting problem appeared. It appears an aircraft radio got stuck transmitting for 10+ minutes. During that whole time the tower channel was virtually useless.

A couple observations:
1) Why is any aviation 2-way radio allowed to transmit for that long without interruption? Every 2-way radio I've used has either a 60 or 90 second timeout.

2) How about some sort of priority-tone-key system? I think tower should have priority no matter what. Several 2-way radio systems I've used have had a transmit-lockout that won't let you step on someone else, and some systems where priority users transmitting immediately kicks off any other people transmitting.

3) What a security hole! What's to stop some jerk from firing up a few transmitters near an airport and block the frequencies? I know I've come across broadcast band FM transmitters and some CATV systems which spill over into the aircraft freqs, but that's not a targeted attack.

4) Audio quality is pathetic on some aircraft. For $30M, I'd expect a better radio. It seems like most of the Airbus aircraft have good quality audio with no interference from the engines/alternators. Hit-or-miss from everything else. Also, no automatic gain control? Some of the 2-way FRS radios families use now even have automatic gain on their mics. I know there's different headsets in use, but still...