Nine people have been confirmed dead following a helicopter crash in Glasgow on 29 November.
The police helicopter crashed into the Clutha pub on Stockwell Street at approximately 22:25 GMT on Friday evening.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said heavy equipment was brought in on Sunday. The three-tonne helicopter has been secured to prevent it sinking further into the building.
The wreckage of the Police Scotland aircraft was winched from The Clutha this morning (Monday). Rescuers say they cannot rule out the possibility of more bodies being found.
Following today’s operation, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service tweeted: “Helicopter has now been safely removed which will allow our specialist urban search and rescue crews to continue search of building.”
Assistant chief officer, David Goodhew told BBC Scotland: “The helicopter is extensively damaged, but certainly the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), who are in charge of lifting the helicopter, want to preserve the evidence.
“They want to make sure that they have absolutely all of the information, and they would like to get the largest part of the helicopter out in one piece.”
So far, police have named the three dead helicopter crew as pilot David Trail, 51, and police constables Kirsty Nelis, 36, and Tony Collins, 43. Of the six people who died in the bar, Gary Arthur, 48, of Paisley and Samuel McGhee, 56, of Glasgow have been named.
Of the 32 people who were injured in the crash, 12 remain in hospital with three being treated in intensive care.
Criticisms have been made over the amount of time the recovery operation is taking, with the family’s of potential victims still waiting to hear news.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Scotland that firefighters were working as quickly and as safely as possible.
She said: “Those in the air accident investigation side of this have described this as one of the most complex sites that they’ve ever worked on.
“It’s important that the helicopter is removed in a way that firstly preserves the dignity of the victims inside the pub, but secondly doesn’t impose any unnecessary risks on the people carrying out this work.
“I fully understand and completely understand the frustration and the anguish for people who are waiting for news.”
The helicopter will now be moved to a secure site for detailed investigation.
According to aviation expert, Chris Yates, it is not yet clear if the helicopter had a black box flight recorder, but investigators may be able to establish the cause of the crash without one.
He said: “This is a police helicopter, there is all sorts of surveillance on board. There is all sorts of data collection equipment as well, so there is an awful lot that the investigators can probably go on to understand what went wrong on Friday night.”
The AAIB is being assisted in their investigation by experts from Eurocopter, which manufactured the EC135 T2 aircraft.
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