The man who cleans up after plane crashes

Robert Jensen is the man airlines call when disaster strikes, said
Lauren Larson in GQ. The former U.S. Army officer and his
recovery company have cleaned up after some of the worst mass
fatalities in recent history—not just plane crashes but also terrorist
attacks and natural disasters. After a tragedy, Jensen briefs
the families—warning them, for example, that a high-speed plane
crash can blast bodies into “several thousand human remains.”
Then he and his team scour the disaster site for body parts and
personal belongings. Recovering personal items can be the hardest
part of his job. “When you examine human remains, you do a
physical examination,” says Jensen. “There’s not the personalization.
When you go through the personal effects, you have the ability
to learn all about a person.” But preserving even the smallest
remnants of a victim’s life, exactly as these items were found, can
help bring families solace. “You don’t want to take away choices,
because then you get the mother who says, ‘I cleaned my son’s
clothes for 15 years, I wanted to be the last person to wash his
shirt, not you.’” Jensen’s work isn’t about bringing closure. “I
don’t see families ‘closing.’ It’s a transition from what was normal

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