Canadian investigators have disclosed that an alarm which prompted a De Havilland Dash 8-400 to abort take-off was traced to a mobile phone.
The WestJet Encore aircraft had been operating the WR3125 service from Edmonton to Kelowna on 14 January.
According to a bulletin from Transportation Safety Board of Canada, an “unknown alarm” sounded during the take-off roll.
The crew rejected the take-off and declared an emergency – part of a standard procedure – but cancelled the emergency as the turboprop taxied off the runway.
“Upon further inspection by the flight crew, the unknown alarm was coming from a cellular telephone,” the safety board states.
The aircraft departed without further incident on its second attempt.
None of the 44 occupants was injured. The aircraft involved (C-GENK) was delivered new to the carrier in 2016.
