Blue River, British Columbia – On December 25, 2016 a B2 helicopter rolled over while attempting to land during the heli-ski day at Mike Wiegele Heliskiing Resort. Three guests, two ski guides, and the pilot were in the helicopter during the incident. Only one of the ski guides was injured.
In a CBC.ca post, Guiding Operations manager Bob Sayer said, “Where he’d been landing the previous times, there hadn’t been a big powder cloud, but when he moved over to this spot, he created a very big powder cloud which whited out everything.” “He knew he was near a peak. He was afraid that if he tried to fly away, he might fly into the peak.”
When the helicopter’s landing skids hit the ground at different times the skid dug into the snow and rolled the helicopter at low speed. One of the guide suffered a “ a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.” There were no other injuries.
A doctor on another helicopter in the area was on-site within 8 minutes. The guide was taken to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, BC where he is expected to make a full recovery.
Heli-skiing accidents are rare. Wiegele’s did their own investigation and the Transportation Safety Board will also investigate. There is now a new policy at the Wiegele “that on low density days when there is very powdery snow, pilots must land on a site that’s been previously staked out.”
Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing is located in Blue River, British Columbia and offers heli-skiing in the Monashee and Cariboo Mountains.
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