BAYONNE - The remains of 104 people killed in a 2009 plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean have been brought to France for identification.

Bodies and wreckage from Air France Flight 447 arrived by ship at the Atlantic port of Bayonne Thursday under heavy police and military protection.

The remains were discovered by underwater robots at depths of 3,900 meters in April, nearly two years after the plane dived into the ocean.

All 228 people aboard the plane were killed when it crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Three containers containing wreckage of the plane are being sent to the French city of Toulouse for analysis. The bodies are being sent to Paris for identification via DNA testing.

The exact cause of the crash remains unclear.