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Federal officials are investigating whether a helicopter experienced engine problems shortly before plummeting into an Arlington Heights house Monday, killing all four aboard and narrowly missing a woman working on her computer just feet from the impact.

Witnesses said the helicopter, rented by officials of a private Arlington Heights school to take aerial photographs of the school's new building, had hovered over the neighborhood on the west side of Arlington Heights for about 30 minutes shortly before it dropped out of the sky and onto the home at 311 S. Fernandez Ave.

Killed in the crash were Shinobu Sada, 49, of Arlington Heights, a vice principal at the Chicago Futabakai Japanese School; Kazuya Yamaguichi, 38, of Arlington Heights, an art teacher at the school; Yasu Sato, 62, a photographer from Wilmette who owned a Chicago studio; and the pilot, Scott Maras, 40, of Lake Geneva, Wis., who had worked about 3 years for Rotors in Motion, a helicopter transport company based at Waukegan Regional Airport.

Remarkably, the helicopter missed Grace Stearns, 68, who was working on her computer in a room less than 10 feet from where the helicopter hit, destroying the roof and two cars inside an attached garage.