US Navy sends black box detector to Indian Ocean

The US Navy is rushing a black box detector to the Indian Ocean as part of global efforts to find the device from the missing Malaysian airliner even as possible debris has again been detected in deep southern parts of the Indian Ocean. The Towed Pinger Locator 25 of the US Navy has the capacity to locate black boxes up to a depth of 20,000 feet, but it is essential to locate the debris area, Pentagon officials said.

"We will be able to hear the black box pinger down to 20,000 feet," said Commander Chris Budde, Fleet Operations Officer of the US Seventh Fleet. "Basically, this super-sensitive hydrophone gets towed behind a commercial vessel very slowly and listens for black box pings," he said.

"This movement is simply a prudent effort to preposition equipment and trained personnel closer to the search area so if debris is found we will be able to respond as quickly as possible since the battery life of the black box's pinger is limited," said Budde.