Tour bus had brake problems before deadly rollover at Columbia Icefield

By Canadian Press on October 17, 2025.

JASPER, ALBERTA, CANADA — A fatality inquiry has heard the driver of a tour bus complained about its brakes days before it tumbled down an embankment in Jasper National Park, killing three people.

Court has also been told the bus passed an inspection two months earlier.

The Ice Explorer lost control on a road leading to the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefield in July 2020.

It rolled down about 50 metres before coming to rest on its roof.

Fourteen others on the bus were seriously injured.

RCMP didn’t lay criminal charges, but bus operator Brewster Inc. pleaded guilty in 2023 to two charges under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company was fined $475,000 for failing to mandate seatbelts and failing to control hazards.

The icefield tours were paused and resumed after the operator added seatbelts to the buses and made changes to driver training.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2025.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press