A tragic helicopter excursion over the Northwest Passage last night resulted in the death of University of Manitoba researcher  Klaus Hochheim and two officers of the Canadian Coast Guard.

The passengers on the helicopter intended to examine ice conditions in the area, and left the ground with a forecast of clear weather. Coast Guard officials lost communication with the helicopter after 8 p.m. Monday evening; the three bodies were later discovered in the open water near the site of impact.

Hochheim received his M.A. and PhD from the University of Manitoba. Much of his work involved the organization ArcticNet, a network to join scientists across Canada to “study the impacts of climate change and modernization in the coastal Canadian Arctic.”

Hochheim is remembered as an “outstanding research scientist” by Tim Papakyriakou, the director for the Centre for Earth Observation Science in the Clayton H. Riddell faculty of environment, earth, and resources. Hochheim was involved with the Centre for over 25 years.