The bodies of 55 of the 67 victims killed when a plane and helicopter crashed near Reagan National Airport have been recovered from the Potomac River, officials said in a news conference Sunday.
First responders will not stop searching until all remaining victims are found, they said.
“We’re going to recover everyone,” said D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly. “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.”
On Monday, recovery crews began the painstaking process of lifting the wreckage of the plane from the Potomac, using a crane in the middle of the river.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Officials believe the process should take about three days.
As the wreckage is removed, it will be taken to a hangar for the National Transportation Safety Board investigation.
Over the weekend, crews were hard at work conducting rehearsals to prepare for wreckage removal.
Divers have been going into the water with cameras on their helmets. Debris spread out in the water is making the operation more difficult, and divers have to map out the locations of debris.
Officials said over the weekend a D.C. police diver was hospitalized for hypothermia and is expected to be OK.
The crash victims include members of the figure skating community returning from a development camp in Kansas; soldiers; a group of friends returning from a hunting trip, and a woman who was slated to start as a professor at the Howard University School of Law in the fall. Public schools in Fairfax and Loudoun counties said students were among the dead.
Grieving families gathered at DCA on the banks of the Potomac River Sunday to mourn their loved ones.
Mourners have created memorials near the crash site, at the Ashburn Ice House and at a Virginia home where two girls and their parents lived.
Several D.C.-area community foundations have come together to launch a relief fund for families of the victims.
