Just offshore of the towering national monuments of Washington, a tall crane now hovers over the Potomac River. It casts a large shadow over the effort to understand what caused the collision of a passenger jet and a military helicopter last Wednesday as a new phase of the recovery starts.

Crews lift first wreckage from DC plane crash out of the Potomac River as recovery efforts continue. More aircraft parts will be removed to aid the search for victims

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.