While landing at San Jose’s international airport on Thursday, a DHL cargo plane went off the runway and broke in half, momentarily shutting down the airport but not hurting the crew.
The Boeing 757 had taken off from Juan Santamaria Airport, just west of the city, but had to return due to a hydraulic system malfunction on runway, according to the fire department.
According to Hector Chaves, director of the Costa Rica Fire Department, the plane skidded, flipped, and broke in half upon landing, exposing the payload.
Chaves added,
“Units mobilised to remove the pilot and co-pilot.”
“After that, they used foam to prevent a spill, and now they’re working on an earthen barrier to keep the fuel out of the drainage system.”
Both pilots were uninjured, according to a DHL representative, but one was receiving a medical examination as a precaution.
Daniel McGrath, a spokesman for DHL, said the business was working with airport officials to relocate the plane so that flights could continue.
He stated that an investigation would be performed to ascertain the incident’s cause.
Deutsche Post DHL Group has a subsidiary called DHL.
The jet had just travelled approximately 35 miles from the airport when it asked permission to return from its intended journey to Guatemala City, according to Luis Miranda, Costa Rica’s deputy director of civil aviation.
According to him, the captain and co-pilot were the only crew members on board the plane, which had only roughly 2 hours of fuel on board.
Following the 10 a.m. incident, airport operator Aeris said the airport on the outskirts of San Jose reopened at 3.30 p.m. local time, several hours earlier than expected.
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