A WestJet flight nearly collided with the water during an approach to a Caribbean airport after the pilots lost sight of the runway in a rain shower and it took a cockpit alarm to warn them about the impending danger, a new report reveals.
The Boeing 737 was just 12 metres (or 40 feet) above the ocean when pilots aborted their approach after the jet’s ground proximity warning system twice sounded, “too low, terrain,” according to an investigation into the Mar. 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.
