DHL cargo aircraft crash lands at Costa Rica airport

The Boeing 757-200 cargo plane skidded off the runway, broke its tail and landed in an adjacent grassy field.

A cargo aircraft operated by logistics company DHL has made an emergency landing at the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica.

The Boeing 757-200 cargo plane skidded off the runway, broke its tail and landed in an adjacent grassy field following the crash landing, Reuters reported.

Following the accident, DHL said that the aircraft crew were physically unharmed. However, one of them is undergoing medical checks as a precautionary measure.

Images from a local newspaper, La Nacion, showed the aircraft covered with firefighting foam, Reuters added.

Costa Rica civil aviation authority deputy director Luis Miranda Munoz said that the aircraft was travelling to Guatemala. However, it requested an emergency landing and returned to the airport following an apparent failure in the hydraulic system.

DHL said that it is working with the airport authorities to remove the damaged aircraft. It added that an investigation will also be launched to determine the cause of the failure.

The accident closed the international airport for several hours. Airport operator Aeris said that a total of 57 commercial and cargo flights were affected.

Juan Santamaria Airport is one of the most important international airports in the country, serving the region of San José.

It is located around 20km west of San José, the capital of Costa Rica.

The airport has direct flights to North and Central America, Europe, South America and the Caribbean.

In 2019, Juan Santamaria Airport handled more than 5.5 million passengers.