MH370: Lost hydrophone may hold acoustic clues in Indian Ocean

A hydrophone belonging to the French-operated OHASISBIO network may have recorded acoustic data related to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The device, located in the Northeast Amsterdam (NEAMS) area of the southern Indian Ocean, was positioned near the ‘seventh arc’—the trajectory identified through final satellite communications with Inmarsat.

Unlike other hydrophone networks, OHASISBIO devices do not transmit data continuously; they store recordings internally and require physical retrieval. Although the NEAMS hydrophone was active on the night of March 8, 2014, the data remains inaccessible. During a 2015 recovery mission, the research vessel Marion Dufresne reportedly missed the buoy due to incorrect timing, leaving the device on the ocean floor with its potentially critical data unretrieved.