June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s military has recovered 41 bodies from the Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last week, and started transporting some of the remains to an island off the country’s northeast coast.

The military released a photo today of wreckage from the plane that it said may be part of the wing. An air force spokesman said only the airline or manufacturer would be able to confirm where the part is from.

“All bodies that were seen in the ocean have been recovered,” Air Force Brigadier Ramon Cardoso told reporters today in Recife in Brazil’s northeast. The air force transported 16 bodies by helicopter from rescue ships to the island of Fernando de Noronha. The bodies will be identified in Recife.

French ships and submarines equipped with underwater listening devices are trying to locate the plane’s flight data recorders, known as black boxes, which may provide clues on what caused the plane to crash June 1 as it traveled from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

While the pilot flew through storms during the nighttime flight, the weather was no worse than usual for the area, the French investigator said three days ago. All routes that involve crossing the tropics are subject to frequent storms.

A section of the plane with Air France’s traditional red- and-blue striped tail markings was also among items searchers found about 1,350 kilometers (840 miles) northeast of Recife.

Identifying Victims

Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, will assist in coordinating efforts to identify the victims of Flight 447, the agency said today in an e-mailed statement. The Airbus SAS A330-200 was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew.

Investigators will confirm what the piece of wreckage pulled from the ocean is after checking identification numbers, Nicolas Petteau, an Air France spokesman, said in Paris today.

“Hundreds of pieces of the crashed plane have been retrieved,” Brazilian air force Colonel Henry Munhoz told reporters yesterday.

Investigators are examining whether ice damage or the obstruction of the plane’s airspeed sensors caused unreliable readings that may have contributed to the disaster. Air France said it began replacing the component with a more ice-resistant version in April, 18 months after Airbus advised customers to make the switch.

Pilots Union

Alter, the Paris-based carrier’s third-largest pilots’ union, yesterday urged members to refuse to fly A330s until at least two of the three airspeed sensors on each plane have been upgraded.

In response to a meeting yesterday between pilots and the airline, Air France pledged to ensure that all its flights involving A330s and A340s would be equipped with at least two of the newer speed sensors, effective today, according to a spokesman for the airline’s biggest pilot union, SNPL France ALPA.

“This may lead to some delays, or even cancellations,” said Erick Derivry, a spokesman for that union.

Air France’s Petteau declined to confirm Derivry’s comments about the change in sensors being effective starting today.

Accurate airspeed readings are crucial because flying too quickly can damage a plane’s airframe, while traveling too slowly produces an “aerodynamic stall” and loss of control.

Following the crash, Air France and Toulouse, France-based Airbus issued reminders to pilots of procedures to follow when measurements become unreliable.

High Altitude

The plane maker recommended in September 2007 that airlines replace the Thales SA speed sensors, known as Pitot tubes, on single-aisle A320-series planes as well as the A330 and A340. Air France said June 6 it waited until April to begin installing the new sensors because it wasn’t until the beginning of this year that their high-altitude effectiveness for the A330 was demonstrated in laboratory tests.

US Airways Group Inc. began replacing the airspeed sensors on its A330s following the crash, “out of an abundance of caution,” said Morgan Durrant, a spokesman. Dublin-based Aer Lingus Group Plc is also “prioritizing modification” of two A330s carrying the older model of sensor, in response to the crash, Enda Corneille, a spokesman at the Irish airline, said in an e-mail.

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s biggest carrier, said it is upgrading its Airbus A330s under plans made before the Air France crash, without disclosing how many of the planes have already received the new parts.

Caroline Philips, a spokeswoman for Neuilly-sur-Seine, France-based Thales, said the manufacturer had no comment while the investigation is under way.

To contact the reporters on this story: Helder Marinho in Rio de Janeiro at hmarinho@bloomberg.net; Laurence Frost in Paris at lfrost4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 9, 2009 19:17 EDT