Land Rover Repair: 2001 Disco II Power Steering pump, hose failure, impeller shaft

Question
The power steering pump on my 2001 Disco II (111k Miles)was making a whining sound indicating that the fluid was low or the pump was failing. I checked the fluid level when the whining began and it was full. However, the fluid had turned a dark color.  The pump had a catastrophic failure after about 28 miles of the whining beginning.  Hours later, I inspected the system and found that all the fluid leaked out...onto my diveway creating a big mess.  I'm planning on replacing the pump and the 3 hoses in the system.  So here are my questions:  1.  Do you believe that internal hose failure is the likely cause of the failure (the dark fluid I suspect) or the impeller/shaft seal of the pump (the complete drain of fluid)?  2.  I have never had a system lose all its fluid.  Is the LR mode of failure usually like this?  3.  Do I need to check the steering box for debris in the event that internal hose failure did cause this failure.  I've worked on many cars in my day (including this LR...Ha!) but always like to ask questions to see if there is anything I have not thought about before I begin.  

Regards,

Skip

Answer
It is unlikely that internal hose failure has caused the pump to fail.  These pumps fail quite regularly.  Pump failure quite commonly causes the loss of fluid you describe.  You should be fine replacing the hoses and the pump.  It's not a bad idea to flush the system after replacing them to flush out any debris from the steering box.