Crews lift first pieces of wreckage from Potomac River near DC after plane crash

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the midair collision of a passenger jet and helicopter near Washington, D.C., for Monday, Feb. 3. For the latest news, view our story for Tuesday, Feb. 4.

WASHINGTON – Salvage crews on Monday began removing wreckage from the Potomac River after the collision of an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter killed 67 people in the deadliest air disaster in more than two decades.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the removal effort, which will first focus on retrieving the mangled passenger plane before turning to the helicopter and its associated debris.

Col. Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers said at an afternoon news briefing that additional remains were found during recovery efforts Monday, noting that the team to committed to the "dignified process" of retrieving victims. So far, authorities have identified 55 people killed in the crash.

"I do want to emphasize that should any remains be located, we have done and will continue to do an automatic work stoppage until the proper coordination with the appropriate authorities can be conducted," Pera said.

Officials said they expect it will take three days to remove the passenger plane from the water near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. On Monday, several cranes could be seen lifting large pieces of debris. Pera confirmed at an afternoon news briefing that crews recovered the first of two engines, the fuselage and had started to retrieve a wing out of the water.

Most of the recovered items are expected to sit on a barge overnight before they are transported to a hangar, where they will be assessed as part of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the cause of the collision.

The focus on Tuesday will shift to recovering the plane's cockpit, Pera said, noting that wind gusts and tidal conditions could affect salvage operations.

Students, Olympic skaters, families: A tribute to lives lost in the DC plane crash

Large section of the plane's fuselage lifted from the water

Recovery crews pulled a massive, jagged piece of the airliner's fuselage from the Pataomic River on Monday afternoon, by far the largest section of the plane salvaged since it collided with an Army helicopter and plummeted into the waterway near Reagan National Airport.

The large, white metal sheet hung delicately from the crane's yellow clasps as crews moved it onto the barrage. Wires appeared to dangle off its broken edges. Three window holes and a combination of number and letters ?N709PS ? along with a small American flag were visible along the side.

Officials have said multiple bodies are believed to still be located within the fuselage of the plane, which is complicating the ongoing salvage effort.

– Karissa Waddick

What the day's news means for you: Sign up for USA TODAY's Daily Briefing newsletter.

Part of Potomac River closed to unauthorized boats

The U.S. Coast Guard closed off a large portion of the Potomac River on Monday as multiple agencies coordinated in the removal of the remaining wreckage and bodies following the deadly collision.

Capt. Patrick Burkett said in a news conference Sunday that the river north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is closed to all vessels that have not been vetted and authorized to enter the so-called "safety zone." The bridge is located south of Washington and Reagan National Airport, and it connects Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Four small boats are monitoring that area as well as two Coast Guard cutters "to ensure only those authorized vessels" gain entry, he said. The Coast Guard has deployed about 200 personnel to assist in the recovery effort.

NTSB completes interviews with air traffic control tower staff

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have completed interviews with all five staffers who were in the Reagan airport air traffic control tower at the time of the collision, the agency said in a Monday update.

The NTSB has also obtained training and flight logs for both flight crews and said it is building "several day histories" of each worker, including "daily activities."

In addition to personnel records, the agency said it has maintenance logs for the jet and helicopter. Investigators are also working to synchronize data from the black boxes, air traffic control communications and radar scope to piece together a detailed timeline. The Army helicopter's flight data recorder does not have timestamps so the agency said it will have to create them manually, which could take additional time to validate.

The NTSB said a preliminary report on its investigation is expected within 30 days of the collision. The final report, which will identify a probable cause of the crash and any contributing factors, will take one to two years.

In the Potomac River, recovery efforts appear slow and solemn

Those driving past the airport Monday morning wouldn’t know by looking out their windows that recovery efforts were taking place.

The scene was quiet. A single black helicopter hovered back-and-forth over the salvage site. Police boats with blinking blue lights floated in the water. Every few minutes, commercial jets lifted off the runway heading southeast over the wreckage.

Cranes lifted debris material out of the water and on to a pair of U.S. Navy barges. A diver with scuba tanks could be seen standing on the back of a police boat, ready to jump into the frigid water.

Inside Reagan National Airport, the airport was bustling as travelers sitting by windows near Terminal 1 drank coffee, used their laptops and phones and awaited flights.

– Karissa Waddick

'Unspeakable loss': Dozens of victims had ties to figure skating

Nearly half of the passengers aboard the doomed airliner that collided with an Army helicopter last week were members of the figure skating community, Samuel Auxier, CEO of U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

"Those whom we lost dedicated their lives to perfecting the sport of figure skating, many with the goal of one day becoming Olympians. We will never forget them," Auxier said. "May their passion and excellence inspire us and give us strength in the days ahead. For now, our hearts are heavy with sorrow, and we stand with their families and friends as we grieve this unspeakable loss. "

The 28 members of the skating community were returning from a development camp for promising figure skaters held in Wichita, Kansas, after the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating national championships.

In a tribute video posted on social media, U.S. Figure Skating identified 11 skaters ? all ages 11 to 16 ? as being among the victims. Four coaches also died in the collision, including married couple Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, Olympians who won the 1994 pairs world championship with Russia. The other 13 members of the figure skating community on board the flight were family members.

– Tom Schad

Read more: Nearly half of passengers on fatal flight were members of figure skating community

Young skaters were 'on the cusp' of their careers

Young athletes wore matching red jackets at the U.S. Figure Skating Championship last month as they watched their older peers on the ice. Now, the skating community is mourning the deaths of 11 children in the wake of the doomed American Airlines flight.

"These kids were really just on the cusp of getting a taste of what success looks like if they keep working hard and keep doing what they're doing," retired skater and Olympian Polina Edmunds told USA TODAY. "It's still unbelievable."

The young skaters attended an intensive, days-long camp after the competition, which includes trainings from top coaches and athletes, and a chance to show off their spins. Despite the competitive nature of the sport, Edmunds said the camp was an opportunity to foster friendships with fellow skaters.

"It's not the same as competition because they're not directly being pitted against each other," she said. "They get to do it all together."

Edmunds, who competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, said the news of their deaths has rocked the skating community. She has spent the last few days reveling in their young talents, watching videos of their prized choreography.

"I'm so happy that they were able to achieve what they did at such a young age already and be able to be a part of this elite skating community," Edmunds said. "I'm so grateful that I was able to encounter them and their spirits throughout their journey."

– Sam Woodward

Widespread grief: In figure skating community, grief of plane crash spans geography and generations

What's next in the investigation into the plane-helicopter crash?

The NTSB has recovered the black boxes from both the passenger jet and the military helicopter. The recording devices are essential during crash-related probes as they provide investigators with crucial information, including internal communications and data on the aircraft's altitude, instrument readings and power settings.

So far, the agency has cited information recovered from the devices in its suggestion that the helicopter was above the 200-foot ceiling for the route it was flying over the Potomac River on Wednesday night.

The agency said it hope to have a complete transcription of the communications among the aircraft and traffic controllers, NTSB member Todd Inman said Saturday during a press briefing. A preliminary report on the incident is expected within 30 days, according to NTSB officials.

Plane increased in pitch right before collision

The agency in recent days has shed light on the staffing at Reagan National Airport's control tower and the timeline of the collision.

The agency's lead investigator, Brice Banning, said seconds after the air traffic control tower directed the Black Hawk helicopter to pass behind the plane at about 8:47 p.m. ET, there was a "verbal reaction" from the plane crew and flight data showed the plane begin to increase in pitch just before sounds of impact.

Five people were in the air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport at the time of the crash, including an operations supervisor with oversight of the tower and an operations supervisor in training, Inman said.

Contributing: John Bacon and Mike Snider, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DC plane crash updates: Removal of crashed plane underway