Bell 212 collision with terrain near Golden

A Bell 212 transporting skiers for Purcell Helicopter Skiing contacted terrain during a landing in poor visibility near Golden. The pilot died and a ski guide was seriously injured.

FinalAuthoritative evidenceVerified 22/08/2026 · 1 source

At a glance

Date
2008-02-07
Location
Whitehorn ski run near Golden, British Columbia, CA
Activity
Heli skiing
Operational phase
Landing
Categories
Aviation
Fatalities
1
Serious injuries
1
Party size
10
Operator
Purcell Helicopter Skiing
Flight operator
Sequoia Helicopters Limited
Investigation authority
TSB Canada
Investigation ID
A08P0035

Aircraft

  • Bell · 212 · Bell 212 · C-GERH · Involved

People by role

Guest
7
Guide
2
Pilot
1

Confirmed facts

  • The flight was transporting heli-skiers.
  • The main rotor contacted the mountainside during landing in poor visibility.

Timeline

  1. 2008-02-07

    Occurrence

    A Bell 212 transporting skiers for Purcell Helicopter Skiing contacted terrain during a landing in poor visibility near Golden. The pilot died and a ski guide was seriously injured.

What remains unknown

  • The selected report did not determine the precise reason for the rotor contact.

Sources

  1. 1. Aviation Investigation Report A08P0035

    Transportation Safety Board of Canada · Tier A · Primary source · Final investigation · EN

    Published 04/11/2008 · Accessed 22/08/2026

    Rights note: Link and attribute; paraphrase findings.

Revision history

  1. v2 · 22/08/2026 Published from approved import batch incident-pilot-2026-08.

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