Broken rotor blade caused WestJet fire, forced landing in Kelowna, B.C.: safety board

A broken rotor blade was identified by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board as the cause of an engine fire that forced a WestJet aircraft to make an emergency landing at Kelowna, B.C. The TSB report released Tuesday covers a WestJet De Havilland Dash 8-400 flying to Calgary on March 3, 2023. The plane departed Kamloops with 74 passengers and four crew members, but as it reached cruising speed, an engine fire warning sounded in the cockpit. The board said a surge followed by fire in the exhaust duct led the crew to declare an emergency, shut down the engine, and divert to Kelowna, landing safely on one engine.