TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin WestJet Aborted Landing/Updated Explaination

Thanks, JD - I did see the whole thing from my balcony at Royal Islander. I felt bad for the photographer who took that pic because people were saying it was fake, and I'm glad video evidence proved it was not. He came out of the clouds so low and leaning toward one side. Before I could finish saying "Holy sh.....!", he pulled up and bailed. Very scary <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Thanks Sheila! Have fun.

I too am an instrument rated pilot. Yeah, I agree!! for whatever reason, the crew definitely descended below the MDA (Minimum Decent Altitude) on that approach.

Your friend is right and if they did get a downdraft from a microburst they are very lucky and would be a good rationale for being that low.

A microburst is always what drove the Delta L1011 into the ground short of runway in Dallas in summer of 1985. Nothing the crew could do to counteract the downward force.

The technology for detecting has come along way but not every airport has it.

Either way I'm sure everyone is glad the bird safely landed.

I know the photographer and she does not photo shop-another http://christinenegroni.com/westjet-denies-close-call-caught-camera-st-maarten/aviation photographer friend saw the plane drop from the clouds and didn't get the shot. He did see Chris on a nearby rooftop take the shot. Here is a link to Christine Negroni's site discussing the near miss.
http://christinenegroni.com/westjet-denies-close-call-caught-camera-st-maarten/ hope this link works!

Statement from WestJet.

They didn't exactly say what the changing conditions were. There is not an instrument landing system ILS there but if there was they would probably have been full deflection low on the needles.

They recognized and reacted but make no mistake they were below mda at that distance out from runway.

Th decision to go around was probably a little late and a little low.

It was a great go around though. Once the decision to go around was initiated they put the coals to it.

I don't know what article you are referring to but I can also tell you it is a true story because I had a customer on that flight & he said people in the window seats were all talking about how close they were to the water. The plane went back up & then had to circle for 45 minutes until the weather cleared enough for them to make their second attempt.

My opinion as a long-time reporter: WestJet is doing CYA. It should investigate thoroughly, give the pilot and co pilot time off with pay until the investigation is over, and modify procedures if necessary. They were way too low and should have pulled up & aborted earlier...that is what veteran pilots who looked at this told us before we wrote our story.

Thanks for the update.

I don't recall any story claiming the plane nearly crashed, not sure where that came from or perhaps I missed that story.

The photographer said she "thought the plane was going to crash". Perhaps that's where the Herald got their story.

Ok and thanks, I guess I missed that part.

After reading this thorough look into the data on this approach, I think Westjet and the TSB have done enough. They've taken the occurrence seriously to find out the facts surrounding this successful missed approach.

As an instrument pilot, this is what you pay those folks for. Instrument flying is serious business and together they recognized where they were. There are many, many instances where aircrew have not.

Good job guys upfront. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />