Some more details around the diversion of WestJet flight WS-3537 on Saturday 19 October have been revealed. The WestJet Encore de Havilland Dash 8-400 was diverted back to Toronto around 125 nm from the airport.
The Aviation Herald has reported on the diversion of WestJet flight WS-3537 which took place two weeks ago today. According to the FlightAware tracking page for the flight, the 4.7-year-old WestJet de Havilland Dash 8-400 took off from Toronto at 23:27 EDT.
It was due to fly from Toronto to Montreal with 82 passengers on board. When the aircraft was around 125 nm east-northeast of Toronto, flying at FL250, the decision was made to return. Flight WS-3537 arrived back in Toronto at 01:04 EDT. The aircraft landed safely, without injury to the passengers and crew or further damage to the aircraft.Shortly into the flight, it appears the pilots reported a hydraulic failure. This failure could affect a number of vital systems in the aircraft, from flight controls to landing gear and braking systems.
Luckily, the de Havilland Dash 8-400 has four hydraulic systems, in case one or more is damaged or stops operating. There are three main hydraulic systems and an auxiliary hydraulic system, which allows the crew to extend the landing gear manually.Although details of the hydraulic system failure are unclear, the situation was still deemed serious enough for the crew to declare an emergency.