On a sunlit Sunday afternoon in early September 2025, the tranquil blue waters near St. Maarten’s Maho Beach were suddenly overshadowed by a dramatic event: WestJet Flight WS2276, arriving from Toronto, landed roughly on its right landing gear at Princess Juliana International Airport. The incident, which unfolded before the eyes of beachgoers and aviation enthusiasts alike, not only shook up the island’s routine but also shut down the busy Caribbean airport for an entire day, according to CBC.
The Boeing 737-800, now sitting dormant on the tarmac, has become the focus of intense scrutiny and logistical headaches. As videos of the landing flooded social media, showing the aircraft’s abrupt descent and subsequent stop on the runway, experts quickly weighed in on the challenges that lay ahead. "There's not much material or talent down there to do it, so everything would have to be brought in probably from Canada, the parts and everything else," explained Keith Mackey, an aviation expert and former pilot, in an interview with CBC. He added, "So they'll have to make a careful determination as to the extent of the damage versus what is going to be cost-effective."
St. Maarten, a small island about 300 kilometers east of Puerto Rico, is far from the bustling aviation hubs of North America. That isolation means repairing a modern jetliner is no simple affair. All necessary parts, tools, and specialized personnel must be flown in, a logistical puzzle that could stretch both time and budgets. Mackey stressed the importance of moving the aircraft to a secure location, shielded from the island’s wind and water, and equipped with the power and materials needed to assess whether the jet can be salvaged or, in a worst-case scenario, should be scrapped.
Doug Perovic, an engineering professor at the University of Toronto, outlined the steps involved in such a repair. Beyond replacing visibly damaged parts and resetting the emergency slides that deployed during the incident, Perovic told CBC that the real work lies in searching for hidden structural issues. "They're going to need to check and see whether there's any other collateral damage to the aircraft and to the structure of the fuselage," he said. This will involve non-destructive evaluation techniques familiar to anyone in medicine—think X-rays and ultrasounds—applied to metal and composite rather than flesh and bone.
While the aircraft was removed from the runway on Monday afternoon, it remains on the tarmac, its fate uncertain. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) wasted no time, announcing on September 8 that it was dispatching a team of investigators to St. Maarten. Their mission: to determine both what caused the hard landing and the extent of the damage sustained by the jet. As Perovic explained, the investigation will rely heavily on data from the plane’s black boxes—flight data and cockpit voice recorders. "What's fortunate here is that it wasn't a serious crash, so everything is available," he said. However, the necessary equipment to analyze this data isn’t available on the island, so the black boxes will be transported back to Canada for a thorough examination.
According to The Canadian Press, Mackey expects a preliminary report based on the black box data to be released within the next couple of weeks. This initial report will offer early insights into both the cause of the incident and any broader safety implications for WestJet’s fleet. If investigators uncover a systemic issue, Perovic warned, "then they would have to ground the whole fleet." Such a move would have major repercussions not just for WestJet, but for travelers across Canada and beyond.
For now, the TSB’s focus is twofold: understanding what went wrong and ensuring it doesn’t happen again. The agency’s final, comprehensive report could take up to a year to complete, but the preliminary findings—expected soon—will be closely watched by industry insiders and the flying public alike.
Despite the dramatic nature of the landing, the outcome could have been much worse. There were 164 passengers on board, and while three were taken for medical assessment after a safe evacuation, there were no serious injuries. This fact has provided some relief to both the airline and the broader public. As Mackey, who has piloted aircraft into Princess Juliana International Airport many times, reflected after watching footage of the landing, "I viewed video of the airplane landing and they seemed to do a good job. The approach seemed normal. They weren't flying too high or too low." He suspects a mechanical failure may have been the culprit, though he cautioned that only a full investigation will reveal the truth.
WestJet, for its part, has been tight-lipped since the weekend, offering only that it is "fully co-operating" with local authorities and will provide updates when more information is available. The airline’s silence has left many questions hanging in the air, but it’s clear that the company is taking the situation seriously. As of now, no new details have emerged from WestJet since the incident.
The saga of Flight WS2276 has also thrown a spotlight on the unique challenges of aviation in remote and island environments. While major airports in North America and Europe are equipped to handle almost any emergency, smaller facilities like Princess Juliana International face significant hurdles when things go wrong. The need to import tools, parts, and expertise not only slows the repair process but also raises the specter of scrapping an otherwise modern and valuable aircraft if the damage proves too extensive or costly to fix.
As the investigation unfolds, the aviation community will be watching closely—not just for answers about what happened in St. Maarten, but for lessons that might prevent similar incidents in the future. For now, the grounded Boeing 737-800 serves as a stark reminder of both the marvels and the vulnerabilities of modern air travel.
With the TSB’s team on the ground, the world waits for clarity. The preliminary report, due in the coming weeks, promises to shed light on the causes behind the rough landing. Until then, the fate of the WestJet jet—and the peace of mind of airline passengers everywhere—hangs in the balance.