Flight MH370: US Navy Sending Black Box Detection Device

U.S. Navy is sending a black box detection device to locate the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 black box in the Indian Ocean.

U.S. Navy is sending a black box detection device to locate the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 black box in the Indian Ocean.

US Navy said the move is a precautionary measure in case a debris field is located. The Towed Pinger Locator 25 System can locate emergency relocation pingers from a commercial aircraft down to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet.

Most pingers transmit every second at 37.5 kHz, although the TPL can detect any pinger transmitting between 3.5 kHz and 50 kHz at any repetition rate. Commercial aircraft pingers are mounted directly on the flight recorder and is crucial to the investigation.

The Pinger Locator is towed behind a vessel at slow speeds, generally from 1 - 5 knots depending on the depth. The received acoustic signal of the pinger is transmitted up the cable and is presented audibly, and can be output to either a Oscilloscope, or Signal Processing Computer. The operator monitors the greatest signal strength and records the navigation coordinates. This procedure is repeated on multiple track lines until the final position is triangulated.