Passengers on a WestJet flight bound for the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten got quite the surprise over the weekend after a hard landing caused the aircraft to be evacuated on the runway.
Hard Landing Causes Gear Collapse on WestJet Flight
WestJet Flight 2276 was operating regularly scheduled service between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) on Sunday September 7, 2025 when the incident occured.
The aircraft, a sixteen year old Boeing 737-800 with the registration C-GWSR, appeared to have a normal approach into the airport based upon video taken of its arrival. The landing itself appears to have caused the right side landing gear to collapse, which led to the aircraft skidding down the runway.
After the aircraft came to a stop on the runway, everyone was evacuated via emergency slides. There were 164 passengers and six crewmembers aboard the aircraft at the time of the incident.
WestJet released the following statement in response to the incident:
WestJet flight 2276, operating from Toronto, experienced a hard landing upon arrival at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) at 17:29 UTC today.
Emergency services responded immediately, deploying foam as a precaution. The aircraft’s slides were activated, and all guests and crew safely evacuated and were transported to the terminal. All guests are accounted for and there are no reported injuries.
At this time, we are awaiting confirmation on the exact nature of the incident. Our teams are focused on supporting our guests and crew, ensuring their safety and care remain our highest priority.
WestJet is fully cooperating with local authorities and will provide additional updates as more information is available.
The incident forced the airport’s only runway to close and, at the time of publication, no timeline has been given for reopening. This has effectively rendered the airport unusable until further notice.
Summary
Passengers onboard WestJet Flight 2276 were forced to evacuate after a hard landing at Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch island of Sint Maarten. The right landing gear of the aircraft failed upon touchdown and left the plane stranded on the runway, effectively halting all operations at the airport. No timeline for reopening has been provided.
