The pilot of an Alpine Air mail cargo plane radioed in his approach to Lihu'e just moments before plunging into the ocean Monday about seven miles south of the airport, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released yesterday.

Pilot Paul Akita, 37, did not signal an emergency before the crash, which is believed to have occurred at the last radar contact with the twin-engine turboprop Beechcraft King Air 1900C at 5:08 a.m., when the aircraft was flying 100 feet above the ocean surface.

Officials have said a plane approaching the Kaua'i airport at that point typically would be at 1,500 feet.

Akita remains missing and is presumed dead.

The Coast Guard made its initial recovery of debris at about 8:50 a.m. about 11 miles south-southwest of the airport, the NTSB said in its preliminary report. Parts of the plane were recovered, along with 45 bags of mail, an inflated life raft, a shoe and a flight bag before the search was suspended Tuesday afternoon.

The Alpine Air flight departed Honolulu at 4:43 a.m. Monday and was scheduled to arrive at Lihu'e at 5:15 a.m. The NTSB said that an airport duty operations controller was conducting an airport inspection while the Beechcraft was approaching the airport. He told investigators he heard a pilot who identified himself as Alpine Air state that he was "landing (runway) 35 and seven miles out," the report said.

Lights on the runway were operational at the time, the NTSB said, and visibility was 10 miles, with winds of 23 knots, gusts to 27 knots, and scattered cloud layers at 4,100 feet.

Akita had filed a flight plan under instrument flight rules, but conditions would have allowed for visual flight rules, said NTSB air safety investigator Kristi Dunks.

Alpine Air told the NTSB the pilot was making his first flight after a two-day scheduled rest period.

With so little of the plane recovered, Dunks said it may be difficult to determine the cause of the crash.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.