HILO, Hawai'i — The wreckage of an Island Hoppers Cessna 172 that crashed in thick forest on the southwest rift zone of Mauna Loa was delivered to a Civil Air Patrol hangar in Hilo yesterday morning.

Off-duty Big Island firefighters were hired to work with a local helicopter company to remove the wreckage, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The remains of the plane, including the mangled fuselage and a wing that snapped off during the crash, were hauled to Hilo on a flatbed truck that arrived at the airport about 9:50 a.m. yesterday.

The crew was hired by Island Hoppers' insurance company, and the firefighters were lowered by rope into the site to gather the wreckage to move it to Hilo for study by the NTSB.

The salvage operation was expected to take several trips, according to NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak.

NTSB investigator Jim Struhsaker is expected to brief reporters next week on the status of the investigation into the cause of the crash.

The tour plane disappeared June 17 with Island Hoppers pilot Katsuhiro Takahashi, 40, and two Japanese tourists on board. The passengers were Nobuhiro Suzuki, 53, and his wife Masako Suzuki, 56, of Chiba prefecture in Japan.

The wreckage was found early Sunday in an isolated area of the Ka'u Forest Reserve at the 5,200-foot elevation. There were no survivors.