The same day that Michael Dean, the Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering, was reported saying most countries involved in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight agree that acoustic pings picked up last month were unrelated to MH370, a U.S. Navy spokesman downplayed the remarks, NBC News reported. "Mike Dean's comments today were speculative and premature, as we continue to work with our partners to more thoroughly understand the data acquired by the Towed Pinger Locator," a Navy spokesman said in a statement. Dean said that the pings were likely produced by a ship or were within the electronics of the ping locator itself.
