St Maarten: WestJet plane from Canada skids off runway after landing gear collapse  

St Maarten: A WestJet Boeing 737-800 aircraft, flight WS2276, arriving from Toronto, Canada to Princess Juliana International Airport on Monday at 2:30 am suffered issues during landing after the flight’s landing gear collapsed which further caused the aircraft to skid to a halt.

What appeared to be a routine landing immediately transformed into a critical emergency. Plane spotter Paul Ellinger provided a firsthand account of this incident saying that the plane came down normally, but suddenly the right landing gear gave way. He added that sparks flew as the aircraft screeched across the tarmac at St Maarten’s airport.

While some reports have described the WestJet Boeing 737’s hard landing at SXM as an ‘incident’ a local aviation pilot and flight instructor said that under aviation law this event needs to be classified as accident.

The pilot explained that this is not considered an incident legally as this is an absolute accident. “The law is very clear that if anything happened to the aircraft such as this and the aircraft was in flight or had an intention of flight or returning from a flight, it is considered an accident.”

This legal distinction is significant because “accident” status triggers a more thorough level of investigation and mandatory reporting under international aviation safety standards.

This classification means the Civil Aviation Authority of Sint Maarten, WestJet, Boeing, and potentially Canadian regulators will carry out a full accident investigation in line with international safety standards. Even the pilots have to undergo a mandatory testing for drugs and alcohol.

Following the incident, the airline confirmed that all passengers and crew safely disembarked, as their safety and wellbeing remain the highest priority.

It added, “At this time, all air traffic to PJIAE has been temporarily suspended and no aircraft will be permitted to land until further notice.”

Next Steps by WestJet

Recovery teams will focus on safely lifting and removing the disabled 737 from the runway. Once moved, engineers will perform structural inspections, determine repair needs, and decide whether the aircraft can be repaired on-island or ferried under a special permit to a maintenance facility abroad.

For now, the aircraft remains grounded at Princess Juliana International Airport in St Maarten, its future timeline uncertain. The airport, WestJet, and aviation authorities will provide updates as more information becomes available.