Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane was carrying 239 people at the time of its disappearance and sparked the largest search in modern aviation history.
The wreckage of flight MH370, believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, has yet to be discovered.
There have been many theories about the disappearance of MH370, including cabin decompression leading to a ghost flight, MH370 pilot staging a suicide...
However, Dr Usama Kadri - professor of mathematics and engineering at Cardiff University, UK, believes that microphones that detect underwater sound waves (known as hydroacoustics) could be the key to locating the wreckage of MH370.
"The problem with these signals (sounds from MH370) is that they are inherently short," he told The Sun.
Dr Kadri became interested in the search for MH370 and contacted the official search team based in Australia in 2014.
Dr Kadri and his team analysed hundreds of hours of acoustic data from sonar stations to find the sound of MH370.
"From the initial analysis, it looked like we might be picking up some signal. That's when I contacted the Australian team that's looking for MH370. I told them about the approach and that maybe we could try to find some lower frequency sounds coming from this event. I think they liked the idea. Then we shared the hydroacoustic data for that specific time frame," he said.
The closest hydroacoustic station to the suspected crash site of MH370 is Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia. Another station is located on the US Indian Ocean naval base island of Diego Gracia.
The study found that an unidentified event appeared to have occurred in an area known as Arc 7 in the Indian Ocean that was picked up by the Leeuiwn station. Arc 7 in the Indian Ocean was the location of the last satellite contact with MH370. However, the signals picked up near Arc 7 did not exactly match the time frame of MH370's disappearance.
Dr Kadri believes the search for MH370 needs to be revisited to determine whether the signal is indeed the last trace of MH370. He is now proposing a series of controlled underwater explosions or airguns along the number 7 arc of the Indian Ocean to see if a more precise location of MH370 can be determined.
If official information shows that MH370 crashed in a specific location, within a narrow time frame, it would be possible to reconstruct the impact and study the signals, he explained.
Sonar can sense sounds in the ocean from all directions. There are 11 sonar stations set up around the world to monitor submarines, marine life, underwater earthquakes and volcanoes.
Malaysia says it is ready to review the investigation into the disappearance of flight MH370 if compelling new evidence is released.
Dr Kadri confirmed that he had been approached by someone working with the US-based MH370 search company Ocean Infinity as well as the Malaysian government. He said a Malaysian government study using the country’s navy and resources would only take a few weeks, while a more in-depth study using a research vessel could take years.
