Cockpit alarm stopped WestJet flight from landing in ocean

Report finds pilots flew off course amid rain, sudden poor visibility

OTTAWA— A WestJet flight nearly collided with the water while landing at a Caribbean airport in heavy rain, and the pilots only aborted their approach when a cockpit alarm warned about the impending danger, a new report reveals. The Boeing 737 was just 12 metres above the ocean when pilots executed a go-around after the jet’s ground proximity warning system had twice sounded “too low, terrain,” according to an investigation into the March 7, 2017, incident by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

In a report released Monday, the board concluded there was a risk of collision with the water and that the pilots failed to notice that the aircraft, WestJet flight 2652 from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to Sint Maarten, had descended too low until the warning system issued the alert.

“The sudden and unexpected poor visibility during the final approach increased the flight crew’s visual workload and led to inadequate altitude monitoring,” the safety board said in a statement that accompanied the report.

Princess Juliana Internation- al Airport on Sint Maarten is nestled between island hills and the ocean, and the landing approach is made from the west over the ocean. It’s well-known for the beach at the end of the runway and nearby bar, where plane spotters gather to watch the arrivals and departures.

One of those spotters took video of the dramatically low approach. In another video posted on YouTube, a passenger on board comments, “Oh my God, we are so low” as the jet descends over the water.

The weather was initially clear, but, as the WestJet flight neared the island, moderate to heavy showers began moving through the area, which dramatically reduced visibility. In the poor conditions, the crew initially lined up on a beachside hotel, which they mistook for the runway.

“The features of a hotel located to the left of the runway, such as its colour, shape, and location, made it more conspicuous than the runway environment and led the crew to misidentify it as the runway,” the report said.

“The reduced visibility and conspicuity of the runway environment diminished the crew’s ability to detect that they had misidentified the runway,” the report said.

The sharp drop-off in visibility also caused the pilots to focus their attention outside the cockpit and they failed to prop- erly monitor the plane’s altitude, the report found.

As well, despite the decreased visibility, the runway lights were only set at low, which impeded the ability of the pilots to identify the runway.

The jet flew out of a rain shower about 1.6 km from the runway and about 57 metres above the water. With the improved visibility, the pilots saw they had deviated left of the approach course but were not able to assess their height above the water.

After the aborted approach, the pilots delayed their next landing attempt until the weather had improved, arriving safely at the airport 45 minutes later.