– 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
To a 5yo, I say…
Sound travels further and faster in water, and the plane has a listening machine called a ‘sonar’ that can hear quiet sounds in water from far away.
Kind of qualified expert here. My main job in the Navy was sonar. I loved it. They are likely using a combination of both active and passive sonobuoys. They are likely laying “brickwork” to mean dropping sonobuoys in a specific grid pattern for highest chances of success. These sonobuoys are small cylindrical devices that can be dropped from airplanes, helicopters, and ships. I used to manage the ships inventory.
Active sonobuoys are preset to a specific depth and will send a ping and relay the information back to a computer where someone can analyze the active return. Active sonobuoys really on a ping bouncing off something. Even in optimal conditions it can be really difficult to find something. We SRRUGGLE to find 500 ft submarines in only a few hundred feet of water. This sub is only 22 ft meaning it has significantly less surface area where sound can bounce off.
Passive sonobuoys are used to listen only and are also set to a specific depth. We use passive sonobuoys when we know exactly what we are looking for. For example, a Chinese Ming submarine might give off an acoustic signature at 159hz(made up) that makes it really easy to identify. Without an acoustic profile on hand it would be really difficult to localize this extremely small quiet submarine.
I would be extremely doubtful in saying they heard knocking. Extremely. Sound is complicated underwater and even if you know exactly what you are looking for it can be really difficult to locate something. Rescue efforts seem more like theatre than anything else. People die on everest all the time and that is significantly easier to visit than the titanic.
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