A Boeing 757-200 freighter operated by DHL made a dramatic emergency landing at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica, skidded off the runway and split in two, losing its tail.
DHL, which is part of Deutsche Post AG, said the crew was unharmed and a member was undergoing a medical review as a precaution.
Pictures from La Nacion newspaper in Costa Rica showed a yellow plane decorated with the DHL logo covered in firefighting foam as it landed in a grass field next to a runway. The photos show that the tail has detached and the wing has broken.
Luis Miranda Munoz, deputy director of the Costa Rican Civil Aviation Authority, said the plane was heading to Guatemala when an apparent hydraulic system malfunction occurred. He said the problem prompted the pilot to request an emergency landing shortly after takeoff.
A Boeing spokesman said the company would refer questions to investigative authorities. DHL and airport authorities said they were working together to move the planes, though they said it did not affect operations.
“The DHL Incident Response Team has been activated and an investigation will be conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened,” DHL said.
1999 DHL Aero Expreso B757-27APCF made a severely damaged emergency landing at Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), followed by a 25-minute take-off and hold pattern from the same airport on April 7.
š¹ Edwin Rose #Planes #safety #airline pic.twitter.com/p6hkCXqOLY– FL360aero (@f360aero) April 7, 2022
The airport operator, Iris, said the airport, located on the outskirts of the capital, San Jose, reopened at 3.30 p.m. local time, about five hours after the accident and several hours earlier than expected.
Iris said the shutdown affected some 8,500 passengers and 57 commercial and cargo flights.
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