DHL PLANE SKIDS OFF RUNWAY, BREAKS IN HALF
A Boeing 757-200 cargo aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Costa Rica. The freight airplane, operated by DHL, skidded off the runway after the emergency landing and broke in half.
The airplane finally came to a standstill on a grassy field next to one of the runways. The tail had detached and one of the wings was broken.
Luckily no one was hurt. DHL said the crew was unharmed and that one member was undergoing a medical review as a precaution.
Luis Miranda Munoz, deputy director of Costa Rica’s civil aviation authority said the aircraft was bound for Guatemala when it apparently had a failure in the hydraulic system. The issue prompted the pilot o request an emergency landing shortly after takeoff.
The Juan Santamaria International Airport was closed following the incident. This left some 8 500 passengers and 57 commercial and cargo flights stranded.
It was originally estimated that the airport would have to be closed for most of the day. Authorities were able to clear the affected runway much sooner than anticipated.
“DHL’s incident response team was activated and an investigation will be conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened,” DHL said.
Image credit: CNN