Agency: Hawaii helicopter nose dived before crash killed 4

By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says a helicopter that crashed in Hawaii last month and killed all four people on board nose-dived after it unexpectedly stopped making a shallow left turn. A fire then incinerated much of the aircraft. The agency’s preliminary report on the Feb. 22 crash on Kauai said U.S. Navy contractor Croman Corp. was using the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter to retrieve inert training torpedoes from the Pacific Ocean at the time. The crew’s job involved locating a training torpedo in open waters and retrieving it using a recovery basket or cage.