NTSB investigator Nicole Charnon began her study of the wreckage yesterday afternoon. The helicopter's mangled parts are being stored in a hangar at Lihu'e Airport for inspection. Officials from the manufacturer of the Bell 206B JetRanger and its Allison engine were to arrive today.

Charnon is being assisted by two staff members of the Federal Aviation Administration, and will get additional help from an NTSB investigator with expertise on the Bell 206 series, and from an NTSB expert on "human factors" who will attempt to recreate the pilot's last 72 hours.

Nicole Charnon

"We definitely want to take a good look at this. We want to make sure the tour operations are being conducted as safely as possible," she said. "We can't escape the fact that we have another tour accident. We're going to be talking to all the people who have investigated previous tour helicopter accidents."

A UH-1 Huey helicopter from Pacific Helicopters on Maui was used to lift off the largest piece of the crashed helicopter, which Charnon said included the engine, transmission and part of the tail boom. A rescue crew of retired and off-duty police and firefighters worked from a Hughes 500 aircraft to collect smaller parts, including the instrument panel.

Strong winds plagued the crew, who halted work after bringing out the body of Thomas J. Huemmer, an Ohio attorney, and two loads of helicopter wreckage. Fire rescue crews had said Huemmer's remains were trapped under the heaviest portion of the helicopter.

A member of the rescue crew said they would return to recover the rest of the wreckage when winds drop.

Two passengers were identified as a German couple, Willy Braun, 59, and Heike Braun, 38. Their hometown and other details were not released.

Tamara Zytkowski, 30, a nurse from Avon, Ohio, had previously been identified by friends as a passenger on the flight, and police yesterday confirmed she was among the dead. Her parents and sister had been on a Bali Hai helicopter flight immediately before the fatal flight.

Bali Hai Helicopter Tours pilot Shankar R. Tummala, 39, originally from India, had family in Michigan, where he lived before taking the job with Bali Hai. He appeared to have been an experienced commercial pilot and a flight instructor. Tummala's resumé listed more than 4,000 hours of flight experience in a variety of aircraft, as well as military training, night flying and low-level flying.

Charnon said Tummala had about 126 hours of training in the Bell JetRanger, all of it since he arrived on Kaua'i about three months ago. He received his initial helicopter training in the

Indian Air Force, and his commercial pilot training at Lapeer Aviation in Lapeer, Mich. He was listed as qualified to instruct other pilots in instrument flight.

The pilot and four passengers were on a standard Bali Hai Helicopter Tours flight that afternoon when the craft hit a mountainside about four miles south of Wai'ale'ale, 100 to 200 feet below the top of the ridge, at an elevation between 3,000 and 3,500 feet.

Recovery of the bodies and helicopter has been delayed repeatedly by strong winds on the steep, rugged ridge, and by clouds and showers sweeping through with little notice. Rescue crews were unable to reach the site last weekend because strong winds buffeted the county's chartered rescue chopper. Ultimately, the U.S. Army's 68th Medical Company flew in with a larger, more stable Black Hawk helicopter, which allowed the recovery of four bodies Monday and Tuesday.