LE BOURGET, June 17 (RIA Novosti) - The head of the French agency investigating air crashes (BEA) said Wednesday that it is unlikely that the entire Air France A330 that crashed June 1 will be recovered from the Atlantic Ocean.

Flight 447 bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared on June 1 off Brazil's northeast coast four hours after it took off. There were 228 people on board.

"Today we are almost sure that we will not be able to extract the entire plane," Paul-Louis Arslanian told journalists.

He added that experts were working 24 hours a day to discover the remaining debris and bodies of those killed, and that 50 bodies had already been recovered, although the flight recorders have not been located.

Speaking about prospects of understanding what caused the crash, Arslanian said: "I will not say it will be easy. We are doing everything possible. And with account for work carried out and data received, I believe we are getting closer to our goal step by step."