D.C. officials on Friday said they anticipate recovering the bodies of all 67 people who were killed when a passenger jet and a military helicopter collided midair near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday night.   

D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly, who is part of the multiagency recovery effort that is scouring the Potomac River for victims, said the remaining bodies will be found despite challenges navigating the submerged wreckage.

“We expect to recover all of the bodies,” Chief Donnelly said. “That’s why our teams are still working.”

Authorities said 41 bodies have been pulled from the water, and 28 of those have been identified. Chief Donnelly said authorities had made contact with 18 families as of Friday morning.

The chief said next steps will require salvage vessels to remove the plane’s mangled fuselage out of the Potomac River, which will start Saturday. He believes that will help find the rest of the victims.   

“We think we know where they are,” Chief Donnelly said. “We’re going to continue this search operation, but we’ve searched a large portion of this, and we are right there.”

An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, was on its final approach to Reagan Airport when it collided midair with an Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night.

The commercial jet was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, while three soldiers were inside the Black Hawk. Officials said no one survived the crash.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.