Created Thursday, Jan 29th 2026 17:28Z, last updated Thursday, Jan 29th 2026 17:28Z
A Westjet Encore de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration C-FKWE performing flight
WS-3405 from Vancouver,BC to Victoria,BC (Canada), was climbing out of Vancouver's runway 08R following the Stanley 5 Standard Instrument Departure and climbing to 2000 feet and was about to level at 2000 feet, when the crew received clearance to climb to 4000 feet and turn onto heading 170. The crew entered the clearance into their flight guidance control panel (FGCP), however, the aircraft instead of climbing began to descend at 2200 fpm. The crew received a "Don't Sink!" aural alert, air traffic control received a low altitude warning and instructed the crew to expedite their climb to 4000 feet. The crew attempted to stop the descent via the FGCP, then disconnected the autopilot and entered a manual climb at 3600 fpm. The aircraft subsequently levelled off at 4000 feet and landed safely in Victoria about 15 minutes after departure.
The Canadian TSB reported the occurrence was rated an incident and is being monitored but not investigated by the TSB (Class 5).
Related Flight:
WS3405,
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