What appears to be an aircraft engine belonging to American Airlines Flight 5432 was lifted out of the Potomac River on Monday morning, beginning the complex job of removing the last of the wreckage after a military helicopter collided with it and crashed last Wednesday.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Crews were on scene on the Potomac River on Monday to retrieve the submerged wreckage of an airliner and an Army helicopter that collided midair last week in the deadliest US air disaster since 2001.

Crews using a crane lifted the first pieces of wreckage from the downed American Airlines regional jet from the Potomac River on Monday morning as rescue workers sought to recover all 67 bodies from the crash site near Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Authorities have said the operation to remove the plane will take several days and they will then work to remove the military helicopter involved in the crash.

The Army Corps of Engineers recovered part of the plane wreckage from the Potomac River on Monday (February 3), after last week's midair collision between the American Airlines passenger jet and U.S.

Divers and salvage workers have been ordered to stop moving debris if a body is found following last week’s collision, which killed 67 people.