The wreckage of the helicopter in the sea off Northland's Karikari Peninsula is expected to be winched onto a barge at high tide on Saturday.
The Civil Aviation Authority says high tide at 2pm will be the best time to attempt the recovery of the Squirrel helicopter ZK-IMB, which is in 7m of water. It is expected to take up to three hours to get the wreckage safely on a barge.
Investigators will pore over the wreckage to determine what caused Wednesday's crash that killed pilot John de Ridder and Department of Conservation ranger William Macrae.
They were part of the firefighting effort battling what is believed to be a deliberately-lit scrub fire on the peninsula, which destroyed three houses and about 130 hectares of vegetation.
Their bodies were recovered on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, police are urging fearful Far North locals to use their anonymous helpline if they know anything about how a spate of suspicious fires started in the area.
The Karikari Peninsula fire was the 14th in the region in the last two years and came only weeks after another fire in the same area.
Northland's new district commander, Superintendent Russell Le Prou, says all recent rural fires in the Far North will be reviewed.
NZN