Collapsed-gear WestJet Boeing 737-800 returns to Canada

A WestJet Boeing 737-800, which suffered a collapsed main landing gear (MLG) upon landing in Sint Maarten in September 2025, has returned to Toronto, Canada, at times, flying the no-passenger itinerary at a cruising altitude of more than 40,000 feet (12,192 meters).

The 737-800, registered as C-GWSR, returned to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) on December 5, following a four-hour and 49-minute flight from Sint Maarten Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM).

Shortly before it departed for YYZ, it had completed a short, 26-minute flight from and to SXM, according to Flightradar24 records. During the journey to YYZ, the 737-800 reached a maximum cruise altitude of 41,000 ft (12,496 m).

The aircraft was involved in an incident at SXM when, upon landing, the MLG collapsed on September 7. While it initially looked like a rough landing, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada later said that the incident, which resulted in SXM closing for at least a day, was ruled out as a hard landing event.

In a preliminary update on the incident, the TSB stated that during the examination of the aircraft, its specialists found a fractured aft trunnion pin, sending “two portions of the aft trunnion pin” to its engineering laboratory in Ottawa, Canada.

The Canadian investigators said that while the MLG collapse had not resulted in injuries, one person sustained minor injuries during the planned evacuation of the 737-800. “The TSB is reviewing previous occurrences involving aft trunnion pin fractures on Boeing 737 aircraft,” it added.

Investigators rule out hard landing in WestJet Boeing 737 gear collapse in St. Maarten

In 2023, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 suffered a similar MLG collapse upon landing at SNA.

The Engine CowlRytis Beresnevicius

There have been several cases where the MLG of a 737 would collapse as a result of issues related to the trunnion pin. For example, in 2003, an Aer Lingus 737-500, which is from the preceding 737 Classic family to the 737 Next Generation (NG), was involved in an incident at Cork Airport (ORK), when the left-hand MLG’s trunnion pin had shattered.

The flight crew of the Aer Lingus flight heard “a loud bang from the landing gear” when they lowered the landing gear for their landing at ORK, the Air Accident Investigation Unit’s (AAUI) report read.

In April 2015, a Jet Airways 737-800, registered as VT-JGA, which was eventually written off following an incident at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in July 2019, suffered an MLG collapse. The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) concluded that the event’s probable cause was the LH aft MLG’s trunion pin failure due to “overload following fatigue growth.”

In the US, at least two MLG collapses were traced back to aft trunnion pin failures. On December 22, 2019, a United Airlines 737-800, registered as N87513, landed at Denver International Airport (DEN), and, during the landing roll, the aircraft’s MLG had collapsed.

“Post-accident examination found that the aft trunnion pin in the left main landing gear failed during the landing due to a fatigue crack.”

On August 20, 2023, an Alaska Airlines 737-800, registered as N516AS, suffered the same fate. In its final report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that “the aft trunnion pin in the left MLG failed during landing due to a fatigue fracture.”