A crew yesterday removed the remaining wreckage of a Bell 206B helicopter off a Kaua'i mountainside. Five people were killed when the Bali Hai Helicopter Tours craft crashed Sept. 24. Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser

According to a preliminary NTSB report issued today, the Bali Hai Helicopter Tours aircraft departed the Port Allen Airport near Hanapepe at 4:05 p.m. on a 45-minute sightseeing flight. Scattered clouds that afternoon, with visibility at 10 miles, allowed for visual flight conditions that did not require the use of navigation aids, the report said.

The normal tour route consisted of a clockwise flight around the island that encompassed Waimea Canyon, the Na Pali Coast, Mount Wai'ale'ale crater, and Manawaipuna Falls before landing back at Port Allen. The NTSB report said the helicopter was last seen by another tour operator leaving Waimea Canyon on its way to the Na Pali coastline.

The aircraft struck a near-vertical ridge about 200 feet below the ridgeline. Other helicopter pilots told the NTSB that they had seen the helicopter, which crashed in the afternoon, cross the ridge in the same general location twice before on that day.

The spot is not an authorized tour helicopter crossing location, but would function as a shortcut to the next stop on a Bali Hai tour, the Manawaipuna waterfall, also known as "Jurassic Falls" from its appearance in the "Jurassic Park" films.

While the ridge crossing is not on the FAA-authorized route, it would be acceptable as long as the pilot maintained sufficient height above the ground and clearance below clouds. Charnon said she will be looking at radar data and information from other pilots and passengers on other flights to determine whether the aircraft maintained the required clearances.

Charnon said she and other NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigators are continuing to review documents associated with the helicopter and the company, interviewing other pilots and Bali Hai personnel, and inspecting the wreckage.

Search team members yesterdayfound a document binder among the wreckage, but most of the paperwork in it burned when the helicopter caught fire.

Pilot Tom Klassen worked with rescue specialists Buddy Wilson, Danny Smith and Roy Constantino using a Hughes 500 helicopter to complete the recovery of wreckage, which was brought from the ridge line in cargo nets. The gear included rotor blades, aluminum engine housings and seat cushions.