ASSOCIATED PRESS Investigators watched yesterday as a salvaged helicopter was lowered onto their flatbed truck at the Waioli Town Park in Hanalei. The tour helicopter crashed into the ocean near Kauai's rugged Na Pali Coast on Friday afternoon in stormy weather, killing three people and leaving three survivors, including the pilot.

Inspection of salvaged
helicopter to begin

Survivors say the pilot tried to dodge
a wall of rain when the aircraft fell
and hit the water

CORRECTION Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005 » A Wisconsin couple who survived Friday's crash of a tour helicopter off Kauai's North Shore were sitting in the rear. A Page A1 article Monday incorrectly said one of them was sitting in the right front and the other in the right rear of the copter. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

HANALEI, Kauai » A salvage team recovered most of the Heli USA Airways helicopter that crashed Friday off Kauai's north shore, killing three people.

The wreckage was under 30 feet of water, and was moved via truck to Lihue Airport late yesterday afternoon, where it will be inspected by National Transportation Safety Board investigators. They're looking for clues that may tell them what caused the crash.

Three people, including the pilot and a couple from Wisconsin, survived, and did not need medical attention.

Weather was a factor in the crash, but "everything is suspect" until it can be ruled out, said Debra Eckrote, a senior investigator with NTSB and the lead investigator on the crash.

The passengers said they "saw a wall of rain," said Nicole Charnon, another NTSB investigator who interviewed survivors and witnesses. "The helicopter flew in there, and all of a sudden (they were) near the water."

Within seconds of hitting the water, Charnon said, the passengers recalled the helicopter turning on its side and submerging.

The Wisconsin couple, who were in the right front and right rear seats, got out of the helicopter and swam to the surface, Charnon said. In the pouring rain, lightning and thunder, the couple swam to a nearby reef, where they were helped to the beach by lifeguards.

The pilot, who was in the left front seat, also swam away from the wreck.

Only one of the three who died was still harnessed to the helicopter and had to be extricated by divers, Charnon said. Two others were picked up by Navy helicopters and transported to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

In interviews with NTSB, the pilot said he was attempting to turn out of the cloud bank when the helicopter encountered "a rapid sink rate and ended up hitting the water," Charnon said. She added that the pilot indicated there was a low rotor spin just before the crash, but investigators were not yet sure if that was caused by the water or a mechanical malfunction.

The three-investigator team from NTSB, joined by a Federal Aviation Administration official, will be conducting further interviews, examining the wreckage and looking at the company's records. Another NTSB investigator and meteorologist in Washington, D.C., will be examining weather patterns at the time of the crash, Eckrote said.

All the major components of the craft, except one of the three rotor blades, were recovered by the team of Maui-based Pacific Helicopters and the dive team from Northshore Shark adventures, Charnon said.

The pilot, who has not been identified publicly, has worked at the Heli USA on Kauai for six or seven weeks, Charnon said. He has extensive helicopter experience, she said, flying for the Houston Police Department and for media outlets on the mainland.

Heli USA, a Las Vegas-based company, has been flying on Kauai since 2000, said John Power, vice president. They also run tours around Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Oahu.

Power said the company has flown more than a million passengers since 1986, with only one incident that "involved very minor injuries" in 2000.

The company's remaining four helicopters were back doing tours yesterday, after suspending operations Saturday "out of respect for the families," Power said.

"It was a very sad day for us on Friday," he said, adding that the company wanted to thank the Navy, Coast Guard, county lifeguards, police and firefighters for their help in the rescue.

Pete Zachery and Amy Chen of Los Angeles were on one of Heli USA's Sunday morning flights out of Princeville Airport.

The two had been in a tour boat cruising the Na Pali Coast on Friday and had seen the crash site and the other Heli USA helicopter that made an emergency landing about an hour after the crash. But that wasn't enough to ground them yesterday.

"It made me a little bit nervous, but not enough to make us stop," said Zachery, who said he's taken a number of helicopter tours around Kauai.

As for the trip, "it was gorgeous, beautiful, calm, easy," he said.