KEY POINTS:
The investigation into the Air New Zealand Airbus crash has moved into a higher gear, as experts analyse the aircraft's flight recorders and officials complete identification of six of the seven dead.
French forensic experts in Montpellier last night formally confirmed the names of the New Zealanders whose remains have been recovered.
They are Captain Brian Horrell, 52, from Auckland; Christchurch engineers Michael Gyles, 49, and Noel Marsh, 35; and Civil Aviation Authority airworthiness inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, of Wellington.
The body of Air New Zealand Auckland engineer Murray White, 37, has not yet been recovered.
Formal identification enables death certificates to be issued, and the bodies to be released.
The bodies are expected to be handed back to the families within the next day or two with a short service to be held on the beach near where the crash happened.
The bodies will then be brought back to New Zealand for burial.
Executives from Air New Zealand, accompanied by some relatives of the dead, are going to France for the handover of the remains.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe and general manager airline operations Captain David Morgan are due to arrive in Perpignan Friday and a ceremony is expected to take place on the beach at nearby Canet-en-Roussillon on Saturday.
Mr Fyfe said said it had been a long wait for family, friends and colleagues to have official confirmation of those who have been recovered.
"Whilst we know how important it is, and how much the families value getting their partners, sons and dads back, our hearts are heavy for the family of Murray White, who remains missing. We continue to be hopeful the ongoing search will deliver Murray back to us soon," he said.
Data analysis
"Work on analysing the data from the recorders is under way," an official at the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses pour la Securite de l'Aviation Civile said yesterday.
"But it can't be done in two days, that's impossible. We need time."
Crash investigators have been holding a series of working sessions at the BEA's headquarters at Le Bourget on the northern outskirts of Paris. New Zealand accident investigators are being represented by experts from Britain's Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau.
The two "black boxes" recovered from the wreckage of the doomed Airbus 320 contain voice recordings from the flight deck and the aircraft's parameters, including its trajectory, altitude and speed.
They may explain why the plane - little more than three years old - plunged into the Mediterranean off southwest France last November 27 during a routine handover check.
The impact was so great that the two recorders were badly damaged. But the United States maker, Honeywell, was able to extract the information.
What has complicated progress is that the crash occurred at sea. Wreckage is scattered over a swathe of muddy seabed and a seventh victim has yet to be found.
As the painstaking analysis began, other members of the accident inquiry are looking at the plane's maintenance records and fuel, and local air traffic at the time of the crash.
The findings will become part of a preliminary report, expected by the end of this month.
In parallel with the investigation, France has started a judicial inquiry for manslaughter.
