A large-scale search for the seven bodies missing after a helicopter crashed into the sea near Barentsburg is scheduled to end Thursday, two weeks after the crash occurred, according to The Governor of Svalbard.

The decision means officials are also giving up hope of finding the memory device from the flight data recorder, but an investigator told a Russian newspaper the crash was “provoked” by poor weather that caused icing and electrical failure. 

Three researchers killed when a helicopter crashed into the sea near Barentsburg weren’t initially supposed to be aboard the flight that took off from Pyramiden, but joined the five crew members aboard the aircraft when weather prevented a boat from reaching the abandoned Russian settlement, according to an official at the company that owned the helicopter.

The helicopter was found largely intact on a seabed 209 meters beneath the surface. Twenty-four unused lifejackets (out of a possible 25) were inside the aircraft, but none of the eight passengers. And so far the only clues to what happened to them is one body, a lifejacket, a shoe, bag and jacket found scattered within 130 meters of the wreckage.

Which means as large numbers of Russian and Norwegian recovery workers continue searching the waters and coastlines in the vicinity nine days after the crash near Barentsburg in diminishing daylight and weather conditions, the challenge of determining what caused the crash and what happened immediately afterward is likely to be formidable.

A helicopter that crashed near Barentsburg was raised from the seabed at about 2 a.m. Saturday, according to The Accident Investigation Board Norway. No bodies were found in the aircraft and recovery workers are continuing to search coastlines for the passengers.

Russian divers and emergency workers did not find any bodies in a Mi-8 helicopter that crashed last week with eight people aboard, but a Norwegian newspaper is reporting the helicopter model in service since 1967 is “a horror example” of aviation as 3,710 people have died in 460 crashes.

Russian and Norwegian officials spent Thursday continuing their search of a site where a helicopter crashed a week ago and preparing to raise it Friday using a ship now on the scene, according to The Governor of Svalbard.

A Russian helicopter that crashed into the sea near Barentsburg last week with eight people aboard appears to be largely intact as a vessel from the mainland is scheduled to arrive Thursday to raise it from the seabed, according to officials.

The body of one of eight people aboard a helicopter that crashed into the sea near Barentsburg was found late Monday about a 130 meters from the wreckage of the aircraft, according to The Governor of Svalbard.

The first photo of a Russian helicopter that crashed Thursday near Barentsburg and was discovered 209 meters beneath the surface of the sea was released by officials Sunday night, with Norwegian and Russian officials continuing their investigation into the cause of the crash and search for the bodies of the eight people aboard Monday.