A survey with ground-penetrating radar established that the bodies, side by side, were indeed in permafrost and thus should be well preserved for medical study. A team of experienced grave diggers from the Necropolis Company in London was hired.

After the topsoil is removed by spade and the permafrost is penetrated with electric jack hammer, Dr. Charles R. Smith, a pathologist from the Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto, plans to remove samples of tissues from the victims' lungs, intestines and other organs. The bodies, which were not embalmed, will not be thawed or taken from the grave, both out of respect and as a precaution against the spread of any infectious material. The scientists seriously doubt that any of the flu virus will still be alive, but just in case, each will be wearing a modified space suit with self-contained breathing apparatus.

Once the tissues are extracted, portions of each sample will be sealed in separate vials and shipped to laboratories in Norway, Canada, Britain and the United States. The most sensitive investigations will be conducted at the United States Army's infectious disease research laboratory in Fort Detrick, Md. and the National Institute of Medical Research in London, which are equipped to maintain the highest levels of biological containment of unknown organisms.

Dr. Tom Bergan of the University of Oslo, a virologist on the team, said the tissue samples would not be touched until they arrived at the laboratories. ''Our first obligation is safety requirements against the risk of contamination,'' Dr. Bergan said. ''We want to make sure there is no viable virus in the sample and, if there is, protect against its escape into the environment.''

Dr. Bergan said the research might help determine the composition, genetic structure and nature of the 1918 virus, in particular its exterior surfaces, where the virus attaches itself to the lining of the lungs and the upper respiratory tract. Such knowledge could lead to the development of a vaccine against this acute form of influenza and tests and modifications of current or new anti-viral drugs for treating the disease.

The pandemic occurred at the close of World War I, when doctors had yet to learn that influenza was caused by a virus, and they had no antibiotics to treat bacterial infections like pneumonia that often attacked the weakened bodies and contributed to death.

Scientists in the project said it might take months of analysis, maybe a year, before they would be ready to publish their findings.