Passengers aboard the normally predictable late night flight from Calgary to Brandon got an unexpected surprise on Friday night when arriving to Wheat City air space to dense fog.
Unable to safely attempt landing at its normally scheduled arrival time near midnight, the Dash 8 turboprop aircraft according to passenger accounts was forced to circle the otherwise whisper-quiet Brandon nighttime airspace for a little less than an hour before re-routing to Winnipeg’s James Richardson International Airport and landing in the provincial capital at 12:53AM according to online flight tracker data.
The aircraft would re-fuel at Winnipeg and remain on the ground with passengers aboard, with deplaning not an option for security reasons according to a passenger account. The aircraft would depart Winnipeg toward Brandon at 2:26AM with passengers told that if unable to land in Brandon a return to Calgary was possible. After a brief 28 minute flight, the aircraft safely arrived to YBR ground at the ripe hour of 2:54AM.
The bright lights of Winnipeg near 1am (submitted)
A WestJet spokesperson shared the following statement in response to an inquiry on the effects of Friday’s fog:
“WestJet apologizes to our 55 guests for their delay getting to Brandon this morning after flight 3256 from Calgary was diverted to Winnipeg briefly due to foggy weather conditions in Brandon. After just over an hour and a refueling, the flight departed Winnipeg and landed in YBR 55 minutes later.
As a result of the return of the fog this morning, our 6:00 a.m. flight 3257 to Calgary is currently experiencing delays. We are closely monitoring the situation and will make operational decisions based on the ability to safely depart.”
The 6:00 AM Saturday flight since departed Brandon at 10:37AM with a scheduled arrival at Calgary just over four hours late at 12:45PM Manitoba time. According to data on flight tracking website Flightaware, the 1:05PM YBR to YYC flight is still showing as scheduled on-time as of the time of this posting.