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So what happens if they actually locate the black boxes? it's likely that the flight data and voice recorders are at the bottom of the ocean, possibly 14,000 feet below the surface, possibly even covered order resting deep in some silt. cnn's george howe reports now on how crews are going to go about retrieving them in those circumstances. >> reporter: once you've found a needle in a haystack, how to you extract it? that's what investigators are up against in the search for flight 370, as they try to hone in on the black boxes. >> authorities and search operators actually found the needle befo...

Is another. the remote controlled vehicles armed with sonar and remote control arms may sift through silt and potentially through wreckage in pitch dark waters. >> it can be painstaking. it can be very difficult. the -- you know, sometimes the boxes have separated from the wreckage. sometimes the boxes have separated from their pingers. so this is going to be a long process. >> reporter: george howell, cnn, chicago. joining me to talk about the difficulties a deepwater operation to retrieve these boxes is cnn analyst david suse, specialist christine denison. and from boston, we're joined by ...

David gallo, and david souci, david, the silt that is supposedly underneath here will that interrupt the side sonar scanner? >> i don't think silt will be a problem. we always have to worry a bit about sediment kicking up. it would happen certainly not to the level it would impact the sonar search -- >> and the environment, we talked about this a little during the break. the environment at these kind of depths under the water, it is a whole other world. >> it is a completely different world that nobody has a concept of. 50% of the ocean is above that. >> you see species down there you don't se...

David, the silt that is supposedly underneath here, will that interrupt the side scanning sonar? >> that was based on something taken a long time ago from a long way away. i don't think silt will be a problem. we always have to worry a bit about sediment kicking up. but in this case with sonar, i don't think it will be a problem. >> and in this case, a plane hitting the bottom would bring up a lot of silt, but that would settle quickly? it would happen certainly not to the level it would impact the sonar search -- >> and the environment, we talked about this a little during the break. and that...