An airport near Costa Rica’s capital was temporarily closed on Thursday after a DHL cargo plane split in two during an emergency landing, officials said. No one was injured.
The plane, a bright yellow B757-200F aircraft about 25 meters long, was en route to Guatemala when it was forced to return to Juan Santamaria International Airport, northwest of San Jose.
The pilot and first officer of the plane, which was carrying cargo to Guatemala City, reported a “hydraulic problem” shortly after takeoff and had to land, Daniel McGrath, a DHL spokesman, said Friday.
Video of the landing is circulating on social media showed the plane skidding off the runway† After the car came to a stop, smoke billowed from it, prompting emergency services to quickly arrive.
The plane suffered “damage” on landing, Claus Korfmacher, a spokesman for DHL, a parcel delivery company based in Germany, said in a statement on Friday.
More than two dozen flights were canceled or delayed at Juan Santamaria International Airport on Thursday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel.
Aeris, which manages the airport, said in a brief statement on Thursday that flights would resume at 3:30 p.m. local time and that it had worked quickly with authorities to address that morning’s “emergency situation”.
Images showed the nose of the aircraft on a hill and a deep separation near the tail, exposing the cargo and interior. One of the aircraft’s wings was also found to be damaged. Other images widely circulated on social media had firefighters spray parts of the aircraft with foam.
While no injuries were reported, one crew member underwent precautionary medical checks, Mr Korfmacher said, adding that the company was in consultation with authorities to remove the plane from the area near the runway.
“DHL’s incident response team has been activated and an investigation will be conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened,” he said.
