KEKAHA, Hawaii (KHON2) — The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the fatal February helicopter crash on Kauai.
It happened at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
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The report said witnesses saw the chopper crash nose first near the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Barking Sands.
Two pilots and two crew members died.
The Sikorsky S-61N helicopter was operated by Croman Corporation. It was contracted by the U.S. Navy to retrieve training torpedoes from the ocean and return it to the facility.
The FAA said the helicopter’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS–B) data stopped recording just before impact. The ADS–B is a tracking device.
NTSB investigators who came right after the crash sent the wreckage for testing. Those results are pending.