KAHULUI, Maui — A Maui Fire Department recovery crew yesterday removed the pilot's body from the wreckage of a single-engine Cessna that crashed Thursday in the forested mountains above Hana.

The pilot has not been identified, but authorities tentatively identified him as a 56-year-old man from Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Cessna 172 is owned by Maui Aviators, a flight school at Kahului Airport that also rents planes. Company owner Jon Muralt did not return calls seeking comment on the crash.

A fire department helicopter took a recovery crew and police investigators to the site. The wreckage was at the 2,400-foot elevation of Haleakala. Fire Capt. Jack Williams said the plane "hit the side of the mountain pretty hard" and was still smoldering. "It was like smashing a soda can against a wall," he said.

A crew visited the site Thursday afternoon but was unable to see the pilot or conduct a thorough search due to darkness and rugged, sloping terrain covered by trees and thick underbrush.

Four police officers and six firefighters were dropped yesterday at the site. Safety lines were set up to keep personnel from slipping in the muddy, unstable ground, Williams said.

A staging area was established on a nearby ridge where the helicopter was able to land. It took about two hours to dig out the front of the aircraft and lift the wreckage to free the pilot's body, Williams said.

He said there is "no way" the pilot could have survived the initial impact.

The body was flown to the Hana Airport and taken by the coroner's office to Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, where an autopsy is scheduled for today.

Air safety investigator Kristi Dunks, of the National Transportation Safety Board in Los Angeles, said yesterday she will fly to Maui to conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. Initial reports indicate the weather was clear in the area at the time of the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna left Kahului Airport at 11:32 a.m. Thursday. A flight plan filed by the pilot indicated an intent to circle the island, said Detective Brian Kaya, of the Maui Police Department.

The crash was reported at 3:52 p.m. when passing aircraft spotted smoke from the wreckage. The FAA will conduct its own investigation, as will Maui police.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.