Coast Guard officials yesterday said they could not say whether they had recovered a cable and basket that appear to be at the center of the crash of a Coast Guard helicopter that killed all four crewmen Thursday, five miles off O'ahu.

"The investigation will be ongoing until it's complete," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael De Nyse, a Coast Guard spokes-man. "I can't tell you or speculate at this time when this investigation will be completed."

Last week, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Manson Brown, commander of Coast Guard sector Honolulu, told reporters that there seemed to be some connection between the cable and the accident.

The fuselage of the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and its flight data recorder, along with other debris, have been moved to a hangar at Hickam Air Force Base for investigators to piece together.

As two separate Coast Guard investigations continue, the brother of Petty Officer 2nd Class Josh Nichols, who was among the dead, said the crew was one of the best at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point.

"That's the one thing that everybody says: Out of any crew that this could have happened to, you couldn't imagine it was this crew," said Petty Officer 3rd Class James Nichols, who was stationed at Barbers Point with his brother.

"It was one of the most experienced, qualified crews — ace fliers."

The pilot, Cmdr. Thomas Nelson, 42, had an exceptional reputation among crew members and was up for promotion to captain.

"Everybody said he was a great pilot," Nichols said.

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 Josh Nichols, 27, of Gloucester, Va.

The men all left behind wives and children, Brown said.

The women did not know each other well before the crash, said Nichols, who is on leave and tending to his sister-in-law, Danielle Nichols, and her 3-month-old son, Ty.

"The Coast Guard is doing a really good job taking care of us and making sure that everything's as easy as it can be," James Nichols said.

Josh Nichols' 11-year-old daughter, Monica, from a previous relationship, is on her way to Danielle's home in 'Ewa Beach from Ohio.

"She just wants to be near family and be near Danielle and Ty," James said. "Danielle's doing such a great job taking care of him right now, but Ty knows that something's wrong.

"He hasn't been the same happy little baby."

Josh dropped out of high school at the age of 16 when Monica was born. He helped Monica's mother take care of the baby and helped support them by working at a seafood restaurant and a pizza shop, and by packing parachutes on the weekends at a skydiving operation in Virginia, James said.

"As soon as he dropped out, he got to work on his G.E.D. (general equivalency diploma) and was either at his three jobs or taking care of Monica."

As soon as Josh turned 18, he joined the Coast Guard "because he wanted to help people, and he knew he could take better care of Monica," James said.

Josh was stationed in Mobile, Ala., as a flight mechanic on a Dolphin helicopter during Hurricane Katrina and was awarded the Coast Guard Air Medal for his efforts. He even got his picture taken while shaking hands with President Bush.

Three years ago, while he was stationed in Alabama, Josh's own parachute fouled 100 feet from the ground. He ended up with a severe concussion, a broken pelvis and an injured knee.

A fellow skydiver found Josh's cell phone and called Danielle to say that Josh had had a serious accident and was being flown to a hospital.

"It just tore her apart," James said. "Josh didn't want to put her through that again."

Josh's pelvis never healed right. But he refused to let the pain affect his flying with the Coast Guard.

"He dealt with the pain," James said. "He didn't care if it hurt. He would do it."