WestJet Flight 849

WestJetFlight 449

WestJet Flight 449 was a regularly scheduled domestic flight operated by WestJet from St. John's International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport. On December 11, 2017, the Boeing 737-600 operating this flight crashed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence after the pilots accidentally stalled the aircraft. All 105 passengers and five crew members died in the crash. It was the first fatal accident in the history of WestJet.

## Accident

### Place

Gulf of St. Lawrence, 47°34'08.3"N 60°10'36.1"W

## Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was Boeing 737-600, with the registration of C-GWCY. The aircraft was delivered to WestJet in August 2006. There were five crew members onboard. Captain Jason Stapleton, aged 40, joined WestJet in 2009. First Officer Richard Hanlon, aged 31, joined WestJet in 2014. The three flight attendants onboard were Susan Denine, aged 56, Michelle Johnson, aged 38, and Stephen Hefferman, aged 48.

## Flight and accident

The aircraft departed Runway 29 at St. John's Airport at 12:39. The flight took off and flew completely according to plan, until 13:43. The pilots, for reasons unknown, disengaged the autopilot at 13:37, six minutes before the stall. As revealed by the CVR, the pilots were having a discussion not related to the flight, commencing at 13:39. The stall warning system had failed, the pilots did not realize the aircraft was stalling until a stick shaker event at 13:43. Both pilots attempted to recover the aircraft from the stall, they were not successful. At the start of the stall, the aircraft was flying at an altitude of 35000 feet (10,668 m). The aircraft was loosing 5,833 feet (1777 meters) per minute. A mayday call was issued at 13:47:39, at that point the pilots had realized they had lost full control of the aircraft. The aircraft impacted the Gulf of St. Lawrence at 13:49:53, roughly 65 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland. All 110 people onboard the aircraft died on impact from severe blunt trauma. The aircraft was destroyed.

## Passengers and reactions

99 out of the 105 passengers were Canadian, 75 of which were from Newfoundland and Labrador. The other six passengers were all from France.

The Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador at the time, Dwight Ball, held a media conference that evening. He called this date "One of the most tragic days in the history of our province. We will never forget those whose lives were lost". All flags in the province were lowered to half mass on the next day. Justin Trudeau also expressed sympathy, promising an investigation would be conducted as soon as possible.

## Search and recovery

Within a few moments of the aircraft being reported as missing, the Royal Canadian Air Force dispatched two CC-130H Hercules from Canadian Forces Base Greenwood. In addition, a CH-149 Cormorant based at Canadian Forces Base Gander was deployed to the site. All 110 bodies of the deceased were found by December 15, at a depth of 1600 feet (487.68 m). The black box and cockpit voice recorder were found on December 17.

## Cause and aftermath

The final investigation report was released by Transport Canada on January 29, 2019. It was determined the autopilot was turned off shortly before the stall. Both pilots had engaged in a conversation while hand flying. It was determined the pilots became sidetracked from watching the instruments. It was also determined the stall warning system had failed.

WestJet still flies this route to this day, but on December 12, 2017, they announced Flight 449 would never be used again. After the incident, WestJet banned all non-aviation talk in the cockpit.