Pilot & Cabin Crew Injured On WestJet Encore Dash 8 During Descent
In a shocking incident this week, both pilots and one crew member on a WestJet Encore de Havilland Dash 8-400 suffered injuries during the aircraft’s descent due to turbulence. While the trio sustained some injuries, the plane landed safely 15 minutes later, and maintenance staff cleared the aircraft for operations.
Captain injured
According to AvHerald, the incident occurred on WestJet Encore flight WS-3613 from Seattle to Calgary on March 13. The flight was at 13,000 feet and descending when it hit sudden turbulence, injuring three in the cabin. Both pilots were wearing their lap and shoulder belts, but the jolt caused them to hit their heads on the cockpit ceiling. The captain suffered injuries, while the first officer seems to have gotten away with minimal to no damage.
A crew member also hit the L1 door in the cabin despite wearing their seatbelt at the time. There have been no reports of serious injuries and we wish all three a speedy recovery.
There were no injuries among passengers, all of whom were strapped in during the descent. Canadian authorities confirmed that the captain and crew’s injuries were minor. The aircraft was checked for any damage due to the turbulence after landing, but none was found, and the Q400 remains in active service.
The aircraft involved in the incident
WestJet Encore only operates DHC Dash 8 Q400s, with the plane involved in the turbulence carrying the registration C-GWRE. This is one of the airline’s newest aircraft, having entered service just over four years ago in March 2018.
GWRE can usually be found making hops between Canada’s provinces and occasionally to nearby destinations to carry passengers that the mainline airline requires extra capacity for.
WestJet’s regional arm currently operates 47 planes, all but two of which are actively flying now. Given the surging travel demand ahead of the summer, we can expect to see all the airline’s Q400s in the skies very soon to bring passengers into the skies.
Turbulence is a major safety issue
For pilots and passengers, turbulence remains a tough issue to deal with. While crews do their best to weave out of known turbulent zones and inclement weather, some are impossible to predict and can catch them unawares. This seems to be the case with WS-3613 as well, only made more complex since it hit during descent. This is why it is best to wear your seat belt at all times except when getting up for something in particular, as this is most likely what prevented injuries among passengers.
It’s unclear how the pilots hit their heads on the ceiling despite wearing both required seat belts. The Q400 has a ceiling height of 6’5″ in the cabin, but this likely reduces in the cockpit due to extra equipment. We will know more once the Canadian Transport Safety Board publishes its report in the coming months.