– How could a Canadian P3 aircraft, while flying over the Atlantic Ocean, possibly detect ‘banging noise’ attributed to a small submersible vessel potentially thousands of feet below the surface?

Question

– How could a Canadian P3 aircraft, while flying over the Atlantic Ocean, possibly detect ‘banging noise’ attributed to a small submersible vessel potentially thousands of feet below the surface?

In: 3042

Answer 1

I was an acoustic sensor officer on the CP-140 Aurora (the “Canadian P3”). Sound is detected in the water by devices launched from the aircraft called “sonobuoys”. These are basically underwater microphones (“hydrophones”) launched from the plane. When they land in the ocean, the hydrophone is deployed on a long wire, connected to a transmitter that floats on the surface. They transmit what they hear back to the aircraft via radio signals.