Inside the grueling effort to recover the bodies of all 67 victims from the mangled wreckage of DC plane collision

Families were waiting at the airport to welcome home loved ones when their plane, just minutes from landing, collided midair with a military helicopter in a fiery explosion, plunging 67 lives full of promise into the cold, inky waters of the Potomac River.

Families were waiting at the airport to welcome home loved ones when their plane, just minutes from landing, collided midair with a military helicopter in a fiery explosion, plunging 67 lives full of promise into the cold, inky waters of the Potomac River. The frantic search for survivors started under the cloak of icy darkness. By morning, the mission had turned into a slow and somber search for the remains of everyone on board. At least 42 bodies, 38 of which have been identified, have been recovered from the murky depths of the Potomac, with near-zero visibility in the frigid water, sharp pieces of debris, and the mangled metal of the wreckage hampering the search effort. Amid heated political speculation on the cause of Wednesday night’s collision and grief-stricken stories from heartbroken loved ones, hundreds of rescue personnel continue to search relentlessly for the remains of every person lost. “They’re getting home and they’re crashing and falling into really deep sleeps, and then getting up and going back to work and doing it again,” David Hoagland, president of the Washington, DC, Firefighters Local 36, told CNN. “However long it takes, they’re going to be there.” Days later, dangerous and difficult conditions persist, hindering the careful and deliberate efforts of crews working to recover the bodies of victims trapped deep within the wreckage, beyond the reach of divers.