RECIFE, Brazil - The Brazilian navy on Thursday retrieved the bodies of three more victims of the doomed Air France flight that crashed in the Atlantic, bringing the total number found to 44.

Air France Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, killing all 228 people on board.

The three bodies, the first recovered since Tuesday, were located by French aircraft searching the open seas for bodies or debris from the crashed Airbus A330 airplane.

The planes sent the coordinates to a Brazilian frigate, which sailed to the site and recovered the bodies, said Air Force General Ramon Cardoso at a press conference in the northeastern city of Recife.

Cardoso said that 25 other bodies found earlier were taken aboard another frigate to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago for preliminary identification.

The remains will then be moved to Recife on Saturday and Sunday for closer inspection.

Cardoso also said that a ship docked in the port of Natal carrying 37 pieces of the Airbus A330 recovered from the high seas. The items will be transported to Recife and handed to the French aviation experts on Friday, he said.

"Every day that goes by it is more difficult to find bodies," said Borges.

"The possibility of finding all the bodies is extremely remote." Borges said the search will continue at least until June 19.