Salvage crews have removed a large portion of a commercial jet from the Potomac River near Washington's Reagan National Airport on Monday, five days after a midair collision last week that killed 67 people.
Authorities have said the operation to remove the plane will take several days and they will then work to remove the military helicopter involved in the crash.
The crash between the American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter over Washington DC on Wednesday was the deadliest US air disaster since 2001.
Authorities have recovered and identified 55 of the 67 people killed in the crash and Washington, DC, Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly has said they are confident all will be found. Crews could be seen aboard a vessel with a crane early Monday.
Officials said that more than 300 responders were taking part in the recovery effort at any given time. Two Navy barges were also deployed to lift heavy wreckage.
Divers and salvage workers are adhering to strict protocols and will stop moving debris if a body is found, Col Francis B Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday. The “dignified recovery” of remains takes precedence over all else, he said.
Portions of the two aircraft that collided over the river Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — an American Airlines jet with 64 people aboard and an Army Black Hawk helicopter with 3 aboard — are being loaded onto flatbed trucks and will be taken to a hangar for investigation.
The crash occurred when the jet, en route from Wichita, Kansas, was about to land. The Black Hawk was on a training mission. There were no survivors.
On Sunday, family members were taken in buses with a police escort to the Potomac River bank near where the two aircraft came to rest after colliding.
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