Cargo plane makes emergency landing in Costa Rica, splits in two 

Costa Rica’s Airport shut down on Thursday after a DHL Boeing 757-200 cargo plane made an emergency landing that broke the plane into two, airport authorities said. 

The pilot of the cargo flight that was bound for Guatemala reported a failure in the hydraulic system and requested to make an emergency landing soon after take-off, said the Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica, Luis Miranda Munoz.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday, we have left hydraulic system problems. We have two souls on board. We have two hours thirty of fuel," the pilot said as he alerted the airport control tower, reported La Nacion. 

“Mayday, mayday, mayday, tenemos problemas de sistema hidráulico izquierdo. Tenemos dos almas a bordo. Tenemos dos horas treinta de combustible”. Así se escuchó al piloto cuando alertó a la torre de control del aeropuerto. https://t.co/fDBzcyKLmw pic.twitter.com/RxbCoDR9Y9

— La Nación (@nacion) April 7, 2022

Upon landing, the aircraft skidded and turned 180 degrees, as a video posted on Twitter shows. The plane crashed into an embankment near the runway and eventually broke into two. 

Audio muy completo😅#JOS0216 pic.twitter.com/tydB6oW7Og

— En vivo desde SJO (@adsbcr) April 7, 2022

DHL said that the crew was unharmed and evacuated from the airplane. "One crew member is undergoing medical checks as a precaution,” the cargo company added. 

"DHL's incident response team has been activated and an investigation will be conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened," DHL added.

The aircraft is still on the ground and needs to be removed for the airport to resume operations. Juan Santamaria Airport in San Jose is expected to remain closed until 6 p.m. local time, impacting more than 32 flights to and from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico, among others.