Russian investigators say a helicopter has crashed into the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East and that five of the 16 on board are missing and presumed dead.



The pilot reported by satellite phone that he and 10 others made it to a tourist base on the Tugur Peninsula, according to Interfax.



The Mi-8 helicopter departed on August 15 from the village of Polina Osipenko in the Khabarovsk region and was supposed to land near a lake on the Tugur Peninsula.



The cause of the crash is not yet known.



Russia's state-owned TASS news agency reports that a group of top managers from a Russian company were flying in the helicopter on their way to the rugged Shantar Islands.

Based on reporting by AP and Interfax