Salvage experts aboard the Navy ship Salvor have recovered the flight suit of a missing Coast Guard pilot and helicopter parts from the Sept. 4 ocean crash site, officials said yesterday.

The bodies of three of the four Coast Guardsmen killed in the crash of the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter were recovered soon after the crash, the Coast Guard said. A pilot, Cmdr. Thomas Nelson, was never found.

An air and sea search, covering 2,500 square miles and involving federal, state and county agencies, was launched to find Nelson, 42, of Staten Island, N.Y. The round-the-clock effort was called off after four days.

The search over the past week, using a submersible, turned up Nelson's flight suit and some personal effects yesterday, the Coast Guard said.

"We are extremely grateful to have this closure," said Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, the Fourteenth Coast Guard District commander. "It was very important for Cmdr. Nelson's family, for his fellow airmen at Air Station Barbers Point and for the rest of us in the Coast Guard."

Also killed were co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin, 38, of San Bernardino, Calif.; and flight mechanic Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols, 27, of Gloucester, Va.

Brown said the Coast Guard is working with the Nelson family to arrange services to honor Nelson.

The crash happened about five miles south of Honolulu International Airport during an evening rescue training exercise with a Honolulu Station lifeboat. The training took place in waters about 1,600 feet deep.

The Coast Guard said the recovery of the aircraft's rotor head, gearbox, main drive shaft and other key components will help two separate Coast Guard investigation teams in determining the cause of the accident.

The recovered helicopter parts will be transferred to the Coast Guard's Aircraft Repair & Supply Center in Elizabeth City, N.C.

Brown previously said something may have gone wrong with a cable that's used to lower and raise a rescue basket in the HH-65C Dolphin. The four-man crew was conducting a routine rescue exercise with a 47-foot motor lifeboat.

A funeral service was held last weekend for Wischmeier in his hometown. Skimin and Nichols were honored in funeral services last month.

Friends and family of Skimin gathered at Sunset Beach on the North Shore, and friends and family of Nichols gathered in Buffalo, N.Y.

Crews aboard the Navy ship Salvor spent the past week recovering debris from the HH-65's crash site.

"Our thanks go to the Navy for their assistance in the recovery of (aircraft) 6505 and to the community here in Hawai'i for the support shown the Coast Guard during this tragic period," Brown said.