The US Defense Department said on Monday that it would send a team to help find the black box recording flight data of the crashed Air France 447.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the 19-person crew, including military personnel and contractors, would fly along with Navy equipment to Natal, Brazil, to aid in the search for Air France Flight 447's data recorders.

The Airbus A330 plane disappeared on May 31 on its way from Riode Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard, including two American citizens.

Citing Navy commanders, the statement said that the US crew will operate Navy towed pinger locators, or TPLs, which can locate emergency beacons up to 20,000 feet below the ocean's surface.

The first ship to receive a TPL and a crew will depart for the search area on June 10, and the second ship is scheduled to depart on June 12, it added.

The US has sent a Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft to Brazil last week, where it flew three search missions of about eight hours each.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2009)