It Was the Plane, Not the Pilots: TSB Rules Out Hard Landing in WestJet Boeing 737 Gear Collapse
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has released new findings that clear WestJet’s pilots of any fault in the September 7, 2025, landing gear collapse at St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport.
Initial reports had described the event as a “hard landing,” but the TSB’s review of flight data has confirmed that the touchdown was within normal parameters and not a hard landing event.
Investigators instead discovered that the right main landing gear’s aft trunnion pin had fractured, causing the gear to fail and the aircraft’s right engine nacelle to contact the runway. The two broken parts have been sent to the TSB’s Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa for detailed metallurgical testing.
The board’s update also notes that the right main landing gear was last overhauled in 2016, and that investigators are reviewing other Boeing 737 cases involving similar trunnion pin fractures.
The aircraft involved, registration C GWSR, a Boeing 737 800 Next Generation (NG) built in 2009 and operated by WestJet, was performing flight WS2276 from Toronto Pearson to St. Maarten when the failure occurred. The aircraft came to rest on the runway, and all 163 passengers and 6 crew members evacuated safely via emergency slides, with only minor injuries reported.
The clarification shifts focus away from pilot error and toward a mechanical failure in the landing gear assembly, a component design shared across Boeing’s 737 NG fleet. The TSB’s final report is still pending, but current evidence suggests the collapse was the result of a structural fault, not pilot handling.
#WestJet #Boeing737NG #AviationNews #TSB #AircraftSafety #StMaarten #UnitedByWings
Correction: An earlier A Fly Guy’s Network report incorrectly identified the aircraft involved in this incident as a Boeing 737 MAX. The aircraft was in fact a Boeing 737 800 Next Generation (NG).
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has released new findings that clear WestJet’s pilots of any fault in the September 7, 2025, landing gear collapse at St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport.
Initial reports had described the event as a “hard landing,” but the TSB’s review of flight data has confirmed that the touchdown was within normal parameters and not a hard landing event.
Investigators instead discovered that the right main landing gear’s aft trunnion pin had fractured, causing the gear to fail and the aircraft’s right engine nacelle to contact the runway. The two broken parts have been sent to the TSB’s Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa for detailed metallurgical testing.
The board’s update also notes that the right main landing gear was last overhauled in 2016, and that investigators are reviewing other Boeing 737 cases involving similar trunnion pin fractures.
The aircraft involved, registration C GWSR, a Boeing 737 800 Next Generation (NG) built in 2009 and operated by WestJet, was performing flight WS2276 from Toronto Pearson to St. Maarten when the failure occurred. The aircraft came to rest on the runway, and all 163 passengers and 6 crew members evacuated safely via emergency slides, with only minor injuries reported.
The clarification shifts focus away from pilot error and toward a mechanical failure in the landing gear assembly, a component design shared across Boeing’s 737 NG fleet. The TSB’s final report is still pending, but current evidence suggests the collapse was the result of a structural fault, not pilot handling.
#WestJet #Boeing737NG #AviationNews #TSB #AircraftSafety #StMaarten #UnitedByWings
Correction: An earlier A Fly Guy’s Network report incorrectly identified the aircraft involved in this incident as a Boeing 737 MAX. The aircraft was in fact a Boeing 737 800 Next Generation (NG).