Salvage crews worked on the Potomac River on Thursday morning and could be seen pulling out pieces of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed with a plane last week, killing everyone on board both aircraft.
Video shows a small boat and crew members at work, removing helicopter parts.
Huge pieces of plane wreckage could be seen in a hangar a day earlier. Flatbed trucks carried the mangled parts, and a part of a plane wing was visible. Each piece was carefully transferred to solid ground as investigators keep searching for answers about the cause of the tragedy.
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All major components of the jet and the helicopter have been removed from the river, officials said Thursday evening.
The salvage effort now turns to smaller debris. Over the next 10 days, crews will use salvage baskets to clear smaller debris in the debris field.
Starting at 2 a.m. Friday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will use a plane to conduct a low-altitude flight and use lasers to scan the water for debris. The flight path includes parts of Old Town Alexandria, southern portions of Reagan National Airport and part of Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic organization recommended airline executives decrease how many aircraft arrive at DCA per hour, from 28 to 26, an email obtained by NBC News said.
