The Canada-built Amundsen, which recently departed from Resolute, an inuit hamlet, in Cornwallis Island in Nunavut's high Arctic region, was at sea on a research voyage, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

The crash occurred in the McClure Strait, about 600 km west of Resolute, at 8 p.m. ET Monday when the helicopter was back from a reconnaissance mission on the state of the ice in the area, said official sources.