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

CNN — 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. “Now that it’s a recovery operation, it’s much more important to preserve evidence so they can investigate the crash, so they’re going to go about it systematically, methodically and intentionally,” Hoagland said. An emergency response team with DC Fire and EMS and DC Police loads diving equipment on a boat to continue working the scene of the crash in the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Mental health counselors available to assist first responders struggling First responders and emergency personnel, who have been working around the clock for days — first desperately searching for survivors, and now recovering remains — are exhausted, Hoagland said, but remain resilient. “We’re looking out for each other, and everybody’s getting breaks.” Recovering the bodies and remains of the victims, especially the children, has been both harrowing and exhausting, Hoagland said, a process that will likely leave a lasting emotional and mental impact on first responders. “We are in a business where we deal with the loss of life or people being hurt and one person is bad, and it’s hard — and 67 is a lot.” NTSB to start investigation after recovery mission is complete The US Coast Guard investigates aircraft wreckage on the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on Thursday.