Alpine Helicopters fined $18,550 for dumping fuel and fluid after Banff glacier crash
British Columbia's Ministry of Environment fined the company for improperly removing hazardous materials from Saskatchewan Glacier in 2023. The dumping contaminated snow near a waterway.
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A British Columbia-based helicopter company was fined $18,550 for improperly removing aviation fuel and transmission fluid from Saskatchewan Glacier in Banff National Park following a 2023 crash.
B.C.'s Ministry of Environment and Parks issued the penalty in June for the hazardous waste dumping that contaminated snow on the glacier. The helicopter, carrying Natural Resources Canada glacier surveyors, crashed on April 14, 2023, when visibility deteriorated during landing, causing the aircraft to touch down at low speed and roll on its right side. There were no reported injuries.
According to ministry decision documents, contaminated snow was transported to B.C. Crown land approximately 100 metres from Rice Brook, which flows into Bryce Creek. The ministry decision noted that releasing snow contaminated with hazardous waste can result in serious environmental threats.
Alpine initially estimated that five to ten litres each of aviation fuel and transmission fluid spilled, but a passenger estimated approximately 100 litres of aviation fuel. Ministry documents revealed that a former Alpine employee reported in October 2025 that the company had staff remove contaminated snow from garbage bags at the dump site about two weeks after the crash.
The company was initially assessed $43,000, but the penalty dropped after Alpine submitted evidence. The ministry's decision stated that "Alpine severely underperformed the expected standard of care" and demonstrated "a high level of deliberateness" in releasing hazardous waste. However, Alpine maintained that the action was "a poor decision made at the end of a very busy day" and that staff "genuinely believed that the quantity of hazardous material remaining in those bags was negligible."
Alpine estimated that 80 to 90 per cent of the aviation fuel and transmission fluid was returned to its Golden, B.C. base for proper disposal, with less than one litre taken to the Crown land site. Two B.C. conservation officers who visited the dump site in October 2025 found debris appearing to be from the helicopter crash and landscape matching photos provided by the former employee.
