An explosive new scientific method may finally locate flight MH370

“Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commissions or revenue on some items through these links.”

• A Cardiff University researcher believes underwater acoustics could reveal where Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 crashed.

• Experiments using controlled explosions could better reveal the distinctive sound produced when the flight hit the ocean in 2014.

• Analysis of the sounds at the time of the accident has not yielded any new information so far.

A few well-placed underwater microphones could tell us the victim’s final resting place Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 (MH370). Lost for 10 years, those looking for the missing aircraft have not come close to understanding where the plane and its 239 passengers and crew on board ended up.

We’ve all heard jokes asking whether a tree falling in the forest makes a noise if there is no one to hear it. But in the event of a catastrophic accident or explosion in an ocean—like a plane crash or a submarine explosion—there is a distinct pressure signal, more commonly known as a sound wave. And there is often an underwater microphone – known as a hydrophone – to capture the signature.

Finding this unique sound March 2014 could help isolate exactly where Flight MH370 rests now.

“Our analysis shows clear signs of pressure from previous aircraft accidents were detected on hydrophones,” said Usama Kadri, from the School of Mathematics at Cardiff University, in a Press release“even at distances exceeding 3,000 kilometers”.

So far, though, Kadri to look for did not yield new information about the whereabouts of MH370, which left Kuala Lumpur at night bound for Beijing. But he believes there is still hope, with some potential experiments paving the way.

Official investigations concluded that MH370 must have crashed close to the 7th^th arc – the point at which the last communication between the plane and INMERSAT occurred. Kadri began analyzing more than 100 hours of data captured by hydrophones and later analyzed 10 historic plane crashes and one submarine disappearance.

In his discoveries, Published in the diary Scientific Reportsit shows that violent impacts in the ocean, such as the impact of flight MH370 (which would have been equivalent to a small earthquake), produce distinct acoustic signatures that travel through the water and are recorded by hydrophone technology located around the world.

Initial research focused on hydrophone data captured near the 7^th arc during what would likely have been the final stage of MH370’s trajectory in the southern Indian Ocean. Kadri also investigated sounds from the Gulf of Thailand that occurred around the time of the final communication of the plane. Only a single, relatively weak, six-second signal that matched the time and area of ​​the potential crash site was identified.

So, although the initial data – thanks in large part to a hydroacoustic station at Cape Leeuwin, Australiaabout 1,250 miles away from 7^th arc – didn’t reveal any actionable data, there may still be a way to find some.

The study suggests that authorities should conduct field experiments using controlled explosions or compressed air weapons in the same vicinity and with similar effects. energy levels such as accident potential in order to monitor the sounds using hydroacoustic stations. The sounds produced in the experiment could show whether any other signs of the crash are related to MH370.

“Similar exercises were carried out in the search and rescue mission for the ARA San Juan, a submarine that disappeared off the coast of Argentina in 2017,” said Kadri. “This shows us that it is relatively simple and feasible and may provide a means of determining the relevance of the signal to MH370 before resuming another extensive search.”

He added that if the sounds were found to be related, it would “significantly narrow down, almost identify, the location of the aircraft.” Of course, if there is no identification datamay force authorities to re-evaluate the time or location established in the official search.

“The aim is to encourage relevant authorities to implement actions that could reveal information about the specific fate of MH370,” the study states.

“Unfortunately we were unable to find a signal with the necessary certainty to launch a new search for the absent aircraft,” said Kadra. “However, if the recommendations are followed by the competent authorities, we will be able to assess the relevance of the observed signals, potentially clarifying the location of MH370.”

You may also like