The mystery of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, of which traces were completely lostMarch 8, 2014, it could finally be solved. A team of British researchers has detected an underwater signal that could lead to the location of the remains of the missing plane. After ten years of fruitless research and speculation, this new development reignites the hope of finding out what really happened.
The signal
Some researchers in Cardiff have used hydrophones, underwater microphones, to pick up a 6-second signal recorded on the day MH370 disappeared. Dr. Usama Kadri, an expert in applied mathematics, stressed that although the signal is not unambiguous, it still represents a significant discovery. According to Kadri, the kinetic energy released by the impact of a 200-ton aircraft, such as the Boeing 777, must be detected by sensitive hydrophones located thousands of kilometers away.
Disappearance
L’MH370 was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board when, suddenly, it stopped communicating with the control tower after an unexpected turn towards the west. Since then, he has disappeared from the radar and nothing is certain anymore. Despite extensive searches over an area of approximately 46,000 square miles, the plane’s impact site has not been located. Over the years, some fragments of the aircraft have been found, but no concrete evidence has revealed the cause of the course deviation or the exact location of the crash.
The role of hydrophones
Hydrophones at Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia, and Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean, were designed to detect violations of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. These instruments are capable of picking up underwater signals at great distances, and one of them recorded the signal six seconds into the time window in which MH370 could have crashed. Kadri suggested that further research into the detected signal could lead to a solution to the mystery, comparing the process to that used to locate the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan in 2017.
The theories
Instead of flying northeast across the South China Sea, analysts believe it turned back and inexplicably glided south into the Indian Ocean, one of the most remote places in the world in terms of flight tracking due to the lack of satellites for images. An initial search, conducted by Malaysia, China and Australia and costing an estimated $132 million, was called off in January 2017 after finding no traces. Technologies have progressed in the meantime, the problem is that a new shipment would still take a long time to prepare. But the families have no intention of giving up, even if they are afraid of the truth that might come out. Among the various theories that investigators (and public opinion) have formulated over the years are: the pilot’s murder/suicide, a power outage, and a possible suspicious cargo carried by the plane.
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