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Kelowna  

Gear problem diverts flight

A WestJet flight out of Kelowna this week had to divert to Vancouver after declaring a hydraulic system malfunction.

The WestJet Encore De Havilland Dash 8-400 departed YLW on Tuesday, en route to Victoria, with 25 people on board.

According to aviation website Aeroinside.com, as the aircraft was climbing out of Kelowna and the landing gear was retracted, the gear did not uplock and the gear doors remained open.

The crew diverted to Vancouver, where they performed an alternate gear extension and landed safely.

A replacement Dash 8-400 was used to continue the flight to Victoria, delaying passengers by about 80 minutes.

WestJet spokesperson Lauren Stewart said the plane's right landing gear door failed to close, causing the aircraft to vibrate.

No emergency was declared, she added.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the crew did ask for firetrucks to be on hand for arrival. The flight landed without incident in Vancouver, and the guests were re-accommodated to Victoria a couple of hours later. At no time was there a danger to guests, our crew or the aircraft." 

The Transportation Safety Board reported that maintenance crews found air in the hydraulic system. 

Aeroinside's report contains information from the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Report System.

Transport Canada endeavours to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data contained within CADORS, however, the information within should be treated as preliminary, unsubstantiated and subject to change



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