Berlin  – Two bodies were recovered Saturday from an Air France jetliner that disappeared over the Atlantic with 228 people on board five days earlier.

The identification of the victims’ bodies after a plane crash demands a painstakingly precise work and that process will likely be complicated by the conditions after days in the ocean.

Often in air disasters the remains can no longer be identified by their relatives or by the body’s fingerprints because the corpses are either too mutilated, lacerated or burnt beyond any possible recognition.

The identification process may last for weeks. In some cases the identity can never be determined.

Investigators have an array of possibilities in the scene of the accident to help them find out the identity of the deceased. For example, scars or other distinguishing marks in the body. Or personal belongings such as a watch or wedding ring.

With help of medical files from the known victims, forensic doctors can conduct an autopsy specifically searching for traces of past operations such as a heart pacemaker or an artificial joint to help them identify the body.

Another possibility is to compare the dentists’ files of the known victims with the teeth found in the site of the accident.

DNA analysis can also aid the identification of a body but it is a very elaborate procedure. In this case relatives are required to submit any item of the victim that might contain DNA traces like a comb or toothbrush. Once the DNA has been extracted from the items and from the body parts the matching process begins. (dpa)