Broken Pin Cited in Sint Maarten Gear Collapse
By Russ Niles
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board has cleared the crew of a WestJet flight that had a gear collapse on landing at Sint Maarten on Sept. 7. The TSB issued an update saying the landing was “not a hard landing event” and the right gear on the 737-800 collapsed because an aft trunnion pin broke. The incident was widely reported as a hard landing (including by AvBrief, sorry) but the TSB said it was within normal parameters for that aircraft based on flight data recorder data.
The crew conducted an evacuation using the slides from the left side of the plane, and there was one minor injury reported in the evacuation. The airplane was much more seriously damaged. At last report it was being repaired on the ramp at Sint Maarten, and FlightAware says it hasn’t flown in the last 14 days. Images showed damage to the top skin of the right wing where the gear mechanism poked through.
