The two bodies were found as authorities continued their search for the black boxes of the Air France flight.

"Among the victims found in the sea search, two members of the Air France crew have been identified: the flight captain and a steward," said Air France.

It is not clear whether the two are among the 11 victims already identified.

Air France has not identified the pilot by name, but a pilot's union identified the captain as Marc Dubois.

The CEO of Air France, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, extended his condolences to the families on behalf of the airline.

So far, the international police agency Interpol said 11 of the 50 bodies retrieved have been identified. It says they are eight Brazilians, one with joint Brazilian-German citizenship, one Brazilian-Swiss and a British national.

The Airbus A330 aircraft was carrying 216 passengers and a crew of 12 when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean some 1,200 kilometers off the Brazilian coastline while on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

The French Office of Accident Investigation and Analysis (BEA), which is leading an investigation into the crash, has said it would issue a preliminary report on its findings before the end of the month.

av/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Mark Hallam