Brazil recovers 3 more bodies from Air France flight 447

Brazilian Air Force's Lieutenant-Brigadier Ramon Borges Cardoso speaks at a press conference in Recife, northeastern Brazil, on June 11, 2009. There is only a "remote" chance that searchers will find all of the victims from the Air France flight that crashed last week above the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people aboard, Cardoso said here on Thursday. So far 44 bodies have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean near the crash site. (Xinhua/Brazil News Agency)

Brazilian Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz shows a searching route map at a press conference in Recife, northeastern Brazil, on June 11, 2009. (Xinhua/Brazil News Agency)

BRASILIA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Three more bodies of the victims of the Air France passenger plane that crashed in the Atlantic have been recovered near Fernando de Noronha archipelago, bringing the total number found to 44, Brazilian Air Force said on Thursday.

The bodies were located by a plane searching the open seas for bodies or debris from the crashed airplane, and were recovered by the Constitution, a Brazilian navy ship, which sailed to the site later, Brazilian Air Force's Lieutenant-Brigadier Ramon Borges Cardoso said.

"It is expected that the bodies will arrive at the archipelago early on Saturday," Cardoso said.

He added that there are possibilities of finding more bodies in the area. "However, we did not collect any remains of the plane on Thursday," he said.

Cardoso said that the first 16 recovered bodies were taken to the Institute of Legal Medicine to be identified, while 25 other bodies were taken to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago for preliminary identification.

He also said the military will discuss whether the search should continue after June 19, which is set to be the last day of the search.

Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, vanished over the Atlantic on June 1 after leaving Rio de Janeiro for Paris, with 228 people on board.