Salvage operations will start Monday in the Potomac River to recover wreckage from the Jan. 29 midair collision of an American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard.

Pre-staging began Friday with the arrival of a crane barge, deck barges with spuds, dive boats, and two surface-supplied dive systems, according to a summary from the Army corps. The Coast Guard cutter Frank Drew, a 175’x36’ Keeper-class coastal buoy tender, has been on scene during the early recovery efforts.

The collision of American Flight 5342 crash and a helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport claimed the lives of 64 passengers and crew on the airliner and three Army aviators. Local authorities said Sundday that 55 sets of remains had been recovered from the river.

Using data from the jetliner’s flight data recorder, National Transportation Safety Bureau investigators determined the plane was at an altitude of 325’, plus or minus 25’, on its approach for a landing.

A tentative timeline for wreckage removal by the Army corps, Coast Guard and Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) calls for salvage operations to “be completed in close coordination with the Unified Command to ensure strict adherence to the central priority of the dignified recovery of missing flight passengers and personnel,” according to the agencies. “Should any remains be located, an automatic work stoppage would begin until proper coordination with the appropriate authorities.

Salvage surveys are being used to “determine the full breadth of the debris field and allow for creation of a lift plan that addresses large wreckage,” according to the statement. “The initial focus is removal of the remnants of the regional jet, which is expected to take three days.

Once the jet wreckage is recovered, work will shift to removing the helicopter and its wreckage. After finishing big lifts around Feb. 8 crews will clear the remaining debris field with salvage baskets, then demobilize the salvage equipment by Feb. 12.

A temporary safety zone is restricting vessel traffic in all navigable waters north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

“The level of coordination both behind the scenes and out on the Potomac is exceptional,” said Col. Francis Pera, the Army corps Baltimore District commander. “As part of the Unified Command working diligently to remove obstructions from this historic waterway, we have not and will not lose focus of what is most important – the safety of our crews and accounting for those still missing to bring closure to their families and loved ones.”

The Corps of Engineers Baltimore District deployed a BUCK sonar-equipped survey vessel to assist in salvage operations following the Jan. 29 mid-air collision near Reagan National Airport. U.S. Army photo/David J. Adams.

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