nbc's miguel almaguer joins us from anchorage with more on this tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: ann, good evening. ntsb investigators say it's too dangerous to get to the crash site where former senator ted stevens and four others were killed. when rescuers returned from the scene they were said to be covered in mud from eyebrows to their boots. still, we are learning more about the crash and the hours that followed it. the de havilland otter, down but mostly intact, was spotted by rescuers three hours after it crashed into a hillside monday. tom tucker transported medical personnel to the crash site. >> the front of the airplane was nonexistent. pretty much gone. >> reporter: the doomed flight took off from southwest alaska in fog and rain close to 3:00 p.m. local time, departing for a fishing expedition 300 miles away. shortly after the wreckage was discovered, a physician and two emts reached the nine people aboard. with weather conditions deteriorating the rescuers and victims were trapped on the mountain overnight. >> it's pretty remarkable

nbc's miguel almaguer is in anchorage tonight with the latest on this investigation. miguel, good evening to you. >> reporter: ann, good evening. federal investigators are said to have tentatively ruled out a le potential mechanical problem as the reason for the crash and now investigators are one step closer to figuring out why the plane went down. late this afternoon, using a heavy lift helicopter, investigators from the ntsb brought back pieces from the crash site 20 miles away in the remote mountains of southwest alaska. the wreckage of the float plane will be examined in detail. one question investigators have, why a state-of-the-art emergency beacon like this one failed to send a signal. that would have helped rescuers locate the downed plane sooner. two investigators who hiked to the crash scene combed the debris field which spans 100 yards, looking for clues to the crash. >> we're gathering information on the operator as well as the pilot, the pilot's records and experience. >> reporter: flying through the fog and rain, the de havilland float plane went down ro

richard engel, nbc news, kuwait. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: i'm miguel almaguer at joint base lewis-mcchord in washington state where the wait for these military families is finally over. their heroes are home. 300 soldiers of the 4th stryker brigade returned from iraq today. >> oh, they've grown up a lot. a lot heavier, that's for sure. >> reporter: for robert deleon, this was his third tour. >> it's super special. i haven't had it for a year. >> reporter: some 3,000 troops from the combat unit will return by the end of september. >> when they told us we were going to do this, you didn't really grasp how important it was, you know, how big a deal this actually was to be driving out of here. >> reporter: in san jose, california, pat and jim dewitt were juggling phone calls as they watched their son pull out of iraq on live television. >> it's great knowing he's headed for home. >> reporter: with the combat mission over, adjusting to the home front is just beginning. >> don't be afraid to bring something up to your chain of command if you think it needs it. let's not lose anyon

nbc's miguel almaguer is live in anchorage this morning with the very latest on that investigation. rning. with survivors brought to local hospitals, the shift of the investigation is now clearly on what brought that plane down. investigators say it could take several days, potentially even a week or two for them to reach the remote crash site, it's that isolated. shrouded in fog, we're seeing the 1957 plane that carried all nine people for the first time. although it slammed into the ground with tremendous force, the plane remarkably remain mostly in tact. five passengers, including former senator ted stevens, are among the dead. the four survivors include stevens' close friend, sean o'keefe, and his teenage son. the wreckage was first spotted late monday, some three hours after the plane took down. the plane went down about 20 miles outside of dillingham, alaska. late monday a group of first responders reached the wreckage. they were able to give first aid to the survivors, but because of bad weather, they had to wait 12 hours overnight with the survivors and those who perished for

nbc's miguel almaguer has more details tonight from anchorage. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. investigators have been able to speak to 2 of those 4 survivors and it's their firsthand account that may help them focus in on what went wrong.ocus in on what went wrong. as the heavy-lift helicopter retrieved the wreckage, investigators were learning what the moment of crisis was like from people on the plane. one told them he noticed nothing unusual. >> he stated as they were flying along that he detected no changes in pitch or engine noise and that they were flying along and then they just stopped flying. >> reporter: new photos of the wreckage show the body of the plane snapped after impact. investigators say they've learned when pilot terry smith took off, he had three-mile visibility in clouds at 2,000 feet. >> the first survivor that was interviewed stated that the weather was poor at the lodge in the morning but due to weather, they postponed their trip until the afternoon. he recalled the pilot giving a safety briefing before d

miguel almaguer is in portland, oregon. good morning. >> reporter: good morning.cs, so we don't know what, if anything, they found during this weekend's massive search. we do know they are clearly following leads and focusing on a small group of people. sunday investigators searched this property, a heavily wooded area just ten minutes from the elementary school where 7-year-old kyron horman was last seen back in june. according to kgw, the nbc station in portland, this is where dee dee spicer, a good friend of kyron's stepmother, teri horman, told investigators she was gardening the day the 7-year-old vanished from school. >> on june 4th, kyron disappears. teri's gone for a period of time. dee dee's gone for a period of time. you have to connect all the dots. >> reporter: according to kgw, on the day kyron disappeared, witnesses at the property where spicer was gardening say she disappeared for an hour and a half and didn't answer her cell phone. >> dee dee's a real central figure in this case. and i think that more is to be revealed. >> reporter: authorities als