MH370 disappearance: Six-second signal could solve mystery of missing plane

British scientists have detected a signal that could help solve the mystery of the lost Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The researchers from Cardiff analysed data from hydrophones – underwater microphones – which picked up a six-second signal recorded around the time the plane is believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean after it ran out of fuel. They have proposed further tests to establish whether the sounds could finally help identify the resting place of the Boeing 777 aircraft which has been missing since March 8, 2014, when it disappeared with 239 people on board. Despite extensive international search efforts, the location of the aircraft, which inexplicably deviated from its course, remains unknown and has become one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. What is known is that a 200-tonne aircraft crashing at a speed of 200 metres a second releases the kinetic energy equivalent to a small earthquake. This would be large enough to be recorded by hydrophones thousands of kilometres away. There are two hydroacoustic stations able to detect such a signal. One is in Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia and the second is in the British territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. They were set up as part of a surveillance regime to oversee the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Both locations were operational around the time MH370 is believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean. These stations are located within tens of minutes’ signal travel time from the seventh arc, a search area 1920km west of Perth pinpointed by the last communication between a satellite and the plane. In their research, the Cardiff University team has identified one signal that coincides with the narrow time frame when the aircraft could have crashed into the ocean on March 8. It was recorded at the Cape Leeuwin station. But this signal was not detected at the Diego Garcia station. Story has more.<br/>