Fire helicopter hit tree before crash

REDDING -- Witnesses of a fiery helicopter accident that killed nine people Tuesday night told investigators the aircraft had lifted off more slowly than normal before it struck a tree and crashed in a remote Northern California forest, officials said Friday.

After its nose hit the tree about 40 to 50 feet above ground, the chopper's rotor blades swiped tree branches before it slammed into the ground, said National Transportation Safety Board member Kitty Higgins, citing accounts from 10 witnesses interviewed by investigators.

The aircraft came to rest on its left side about 150 yards from its take-off site and then "quickly filled with very dense, thick black smoke" before igniting in a fiery blaze, Higgins said at a news conference in Redding, about 40 miles southeast of where the helicopter went down.

The Sikorsky S-61N was ferrying ten firefighters, two pilots and a U.S. Forest Service employee back to base camp when it fell out of the sky. Four of those aboard were rescued and taken to hospitals.

Investigators said Friday they had recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage and the device was bound for an NTSB laboratory in Washington.

"The recorder is in better condition than we hoped given the condition of the crash site," Higgins said.

Investigators planned to survey the treetop heights and topographical features of the crash site in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, take fuel samples and review the aircraft's maintenance records. They also intended to analyze the chopper's escape windows and seat belts to see about difficulties in evacuating.

Rick Charlson said his son, Scott Charlson, called Tuesday morning before leaving on the firefighting assignment.

"He was excited," said Charlson, a salesman for a fertilizer and irrigation store in Eugene, Ore. "He'd never been in a helicopter before. So he was really looking forward to that too."

"We said all our 'I love yous' -- that was the end of every conversation," Charlson said Friday.

Scott Charlson, 25, was one of seven firefighters working for Grayback Forestry who was killed. A pilot who worked for Carson Helicopters and a U.S. Forest Service employee, who on Friday was identified as Jim Ramage, 63, of Redding, also died.

Three firefighters and a pilot survived the crash, and the NTSB planned to interview them when they're "medically available," Higgins said.

Firefighters Michael Brown, 20, and Jonathan Frohreich, 18, were in good condition Friday, and co-pilot Bill Coultas, 44, who suffered burns on about a third of his body, was in critical but stable condition.

Firefighter Rick Schroeder, 42, was released from the hospital Friday after suffering a cracked shoulder and vertebra along with scratches, bruises and a badly cut lip.