More Bodies in American Airlines Crash Will Not Be Found Until Plane Is Hoisted Out of Potomac River, D.C. Fire Chief Says

The remaining bodies of those who died in the recent Washington, D.C., plane crash will likely not be immediately recovered.

"For us to recover the rest of the remains," D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said during a news briefing on Friday, Jan. 31, "we going to need to get the [plane] out of the water.

Donnelly said the bodies of 41 victims have already been recovered from the water, while 28 of those victims have been positively identified. He added, "As of 6 a.m. this morning, next of kin notifications have been made to 18 families.”

Asked at another point in the press conference if authorities were confident they knew the location of the remaining bodies, Donnelly replied, "we think we know," and reiterated the need to remove the aircraft from the water.

“We expect to recover all of the bodies. That’s why our teams are still working," he said, but cautioned that they don't have a timeline to share just yet, but that they're “working as fast as we can."

PEOPLE reached out to the Washington, D.C., Fire and EMS Department for further information on Feb. 1, but did not receive an immediate response.

Related: Figure Skaters, Moms and an Engaged Pilot: What We Know About the D.C. Plane Crash Victims So Far

In an earlier NTSB press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30, officials said that investigators were still working at the scene, but that they had not yet seen any evidence that suggested slides or chutes had been deployed.

“It was a very quick, rapid impact," said NTSB board member J. Todd Inman. "We’ve seen nothing in that regard so far from the evidence we have, but we still need to verify all of that information.”

A total of 67 people perished when American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in mid-air near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, Jan. 29. There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane as well as three soldiers on board the helicopter. There were no survivors.

Passengers on the plane included mothers and children, teen figure skaters returning from skating camp in Kansas, and a group of adult friends returning from a hunting trip.

Related: Father Whose Family Perished in D.C. Plane Crash Built Backyard Ice Rink For Daughters (Exclusive)

While the cause of the crash is unknown, aviation experts suspect that the Army helicopter did not see the plane before the deadly collision.

​​"I guarantee it was basically pilot error," an active duty Army helicopter pilot, who did not want to be identified, previously told PEOPLE.

The pilot, who has investigated helicopter collisions in the past, explained: "The Black Hawk accepted responsibility for the separation of traffic. That means, they would monitor and address the flight paths themselves. The Black Hawk asked for 'visual separation,' meaning, 'We got this.' "

Related: 'Young' Child and Mother Among the 7 People Confirmed Killed in Philadelphia Plane Crash: 'This Is a Tragedy'

Laurie Garrow, a professor and director of the Air Transportation Lab at Georgia Tech, said she did not believe the Black Hawk pilot saw the plane before the crash, and she also noted that the airspace lanes near Reagan National are “very narrow.”

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"In DC [...] we have a lot of buildings that are close by the airport. So when you take off, you have to climb at a certain altitude or do some very quick turns to be able to avoid the tall buildings and also sensitive areas," she explained to PEOPLE. "You can't fly over the White House, can't fly over memorials and malls. So it's very common that aircraft are going on the Potomac, but that probably also creates more congestion and things to manage, particularly if you're mixing commercial and military operations."

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