said Saturday evening . A federal disaster mortuary team was called to assist local forensic officials . Despite reports from local authorities who said the plane hurtled toward the house from a sharp nosedive , Chealander said the current orientation of the plane indicates that it fell flat on its belly . The Continental flight from Newark , New Jersey , operated by Colgan Air , crashed about 10:17 p.m. Thursday northeast of Buffalo Niagara International Airport . Follow the plane 's path '' Chealander said the recovery effort and the investigation have been hampered by freezing temperatures as authorities try to sift through the wreckage of the flight and the home it struck . Some parts of the plane have fallen as deep as the basement , he said . `` Keep in mind , there 's an airplane that fell on top of a house , '' he told reporters . `` The house and the airplane are together . '' Authorities said it would probably take weeks to identify remains of the victims , with DNA testing required in many cases because of the intensity of the crash and subsequent fire . A 2-square-mile area around the
CLARENCE CENTER , New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Recovering all the bodies from Thursday 's deadly passenger plane crash may take four days as investigators work through freezing temperatures and piles of wreckage , a federal transportation official said Saturday . Only a few pieces of the Continental Connection Dash 8 turboprop were recognizable after the crash . `` The medical examiner believes that three to four days are going to be required to recover the victims of this crash , and they 're in the process of doing that , '' Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board said . `` They 've already pulled some of the folks out of there , but they 've got a long way to go . '' All 49 passengers aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407 died when the 74-seat Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop crashed into a home in Clarence Center , New York , on Thursday night . A 61-year-old man in the house died also , but his wife and daughter survived . Fifteen bodies have been recovered , and efforts to identify the victims and conduct autopsies are under way , Erie County Health Commission Anthony Billittier