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HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) — Divers were in and out of the murky waters of the Hudson River on Tuesday, still trying to recover the last two victims of a plane-helicopter collision that killed nine people, and hoping to raise the wrecked plane without destroying clues that might pinpoint what went wrong.

Wrestling with strong currents and low visibility, teams of divers went back into the water late Tuesday morning. About 15 minutes after going in, two divers came up and gave a thumbs-up to other team members.

By early afternoon they were out again. The New York Police Department said the search and recovery effort will begin around 3 p.m. EDT, when the conditions in the river will be most favorable.

The Piper airplane that collided with a sightseeing helicopter in the congested airspace between New Jersey and Manhattan is in about 60 feet of water, heavily damaged and waterlogged, making recovery delicate, federal safety officials said.

"We're going to be examining the wreckage, looking at the control surfaces, looking for any missing parts, and we may need to do more searching and recovery for any parts that are missing," said National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Deborah Hersman.

Hersman said investigators would check to see if all the controls were working and if there was power from the engine when the aircraft collided.

A waterborne crane arrived at the crash site later in the morning.

"Obviously it's in very deep water," Hersman said. "It's heavy, it's waterlogged and when they pull it out they want to make sure all the aircraft parts remain attached."

One of the two victims was located in the plane's wreckage Monday but couldn't immediately be removed, police said. Police divers placed chains on the front of the plane — resting on its side at the river bottom — near the engine and near the tail Monday to prepare to lift it.

Also on the scene is the 30-ton Moritz, an Army Corps of Engineers vessel that has a small crane. The ship, normally used to conduct hydrographic surveys, helped search for a missing engine after U.S. Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in January. A larger corps crane is nearby.

Investigators also planned to conduct interviews with controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport to try to piece together the flight route of the small plane into the Hudson river corridor, where it smashed into a tourist helicopter at 1,100 feet Saturday, killing all nine people including five tourists from Italy.

Air traffic control transcripts described Monday indicate a worry-free exchange between controllers at Teterboro, in New Jersey, and the plane's pilot, Steven Altman, who was told he could pick his flight path toward Ocean City, where he was flying after picking up his brother Daniel Altman and teenage nephew Douglas Altman.

The air traffic controller at Teterboro Airport gave him two choices: Head down the river, or take a southwest tack.

When a Teterboro controller asked the pilot if he wanted to go down the river or head southwest, he responded by saying: "Either."

"Let me know," the controller said.

"OK, tell you what," Altman replied, "I'll take down the river."

Hersman said air traffic controllers at Teterboro at some point told Altman to switch radio frequencies so Newark controllers could communicate with him, but Newark never made contact, she said.

All seven of the victims whose bodies were recovered have been positively identified through dental records and fingerprints, the New York medical examiner's office said. Autopsies found they died from blunt-impact injuries.

The collision at around noon on a sunny Saturday occurred in a congested flyway popular with sightseers. Hersman said an eight-day NTSB survey of the river corridor before the collision had counted about 225 aircraft flying within a 3-mile radius of the collision site each day.

Many of these tour craft fly below 1,100 feet, where pilots are largely free to choose their own routes, radioing their positions periodically but not communicating regularly with air traffic controllers.

The NTSB has issued at least 14 safety recommendations — 12 for collision avoidance — for flight in congested areas across the country, and more than 50 for the operation of air tours, Hersman said.

The NTSB has declined to speculate about the cause of the crash. The agency's investigation is expected to take months.

The helicopter had just taken off from Manhattan's West Side for a 12-minute tour. Witnesses said the small plane approached the helicopter from behind and clipped it with a wing. Hersman said the helicopter was gaining altitude when the two aircraft collided.

Both aircraft split and fell into the river, scattering debris and sending weekenders enjoying the beautiful day on the New Jersey side of the river running for cover.

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Hays reported from New York. Associated Press writers Sara Kugler and Maria Sanminiatelli in New York and Samantha Henry in Hoboken, N.J., also contributed to this report.