Most of helicopter wreckage recovered

Associated Press

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Clearing weather over Central Kaua'i yesterday enabled salvage workers to recover most of the larger pieces of wreckage from a tour helicopter crash that claimed five lives last week, a National Transportation Safety Board official said.

Depending on how much wreckage was brought down from Mount Wai'ale'ale by the end of the day, the recovery operation could end as early as today, NTSB lead investigator Wayne Pollack said.

The wreckage was strewn vertically over several hundred yards, Pollack said.

The operation began Saturday, with a two-person recovery team retrieving lighter items that spilled down hundreds of feet from the point of impact to where the heavier wreckage came to rest at the 4,600-foot level.

The initial items brought down by helicopter included the aircraft's skid assembly and undercarriage, as well as documents, charts and personal effects.

The wreckage was taken to a hangar at Lihu'e Airport, where federal investigator are trying to determine what caused Wednesday's crash of the Jack Harter Helicopters' Bell 206-B Jet Ranger.

The pilot, Mark Lundgren, 44, of Puhi, and passengers Edward J. Wadiak, 55, and his wife, Teresa M. Wadiak, 53, of Manassas, Va., and Jeffrey Peterson, 33, of Denver, were dead by the time rescuers reached the crash site three hours later.

Peterson's 33-year-old wife, Monica Peterson, was found alive, but she died before a rescue helicopter could safely return to the site.