American Airlines engine and fuselage lifted from Potomac in effort to recover all victims of D.C. midair collision

Crews began the complex job of lifting American Airlines Flight 5432 from the Potomac River after it collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter in the Washington, D.C., area.

An aircraft engine and the fuselage belonging to American Airlines Flight 5432 were lifted out of the Potomac River on Monday, beginning the complex job of removing the last of the wreckage after a military helicopter collided with it and crashed last Wednesday.

Officials say that what remains of the jet needs to be removed from the crash site in order to recover all 67 victims who died in the midair collision in the Washington area. The effort began Monday at sunrise, officials said.

So far, 55 victims' remains have been positively identified, Washington Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly told a news conference Sunday: "We’re going to recover everyone."

"If we knew where they were, though, we would already have them out, so we have some work to do as the salvage operation goes on, and we will absolutely stay here and search until such point as we have everybody," he added. Recovery workers have been battling difficult conditions with near-zero visibility in the dark waters.

Additional remains were found during recovery efforts Monday and are being identified by the Washington chief medical examiner's office, Washington Fire and EMS Assistant Chief Gary Steen said at a news briefing Monday evening. Steen said he believes the rest of the human remains in the Potomac are in the wreckage.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/army-prepares-lift-plane-potomac-rcna190395

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