DHL's Boeing plane crash lands in Costa Rica, splits in two after emergency landing

A DHL cargo plane crash landed at Costa Rica's Juan Santamaria International Airport, forcing authorities to shut the airport for several hours. DHL, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG was operating a Boeing 757-200 cargo aircraft wearing the traditional yellow livery and can be seen on multiple social media videos skidding on the runway after making an emergency landing.

The plane skidded off the runway after breaking hard and entered the grass area and split into two, aviation authorities said. The pilot and copilot were evacuated, airport operator Aeris said in a statement.

The aircraft, bound for Guatemala, apparently had a failure in the hydraulic system, prompting the pilot to request an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, Luis Miranda Munoz, Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica, told sources.

Munoz said the aircraft is still on the ground and aviation authorities are waiting for it to be removed in order to resume operations. DHL said they are coordinating with the airport authorities on moving the aircraft from the runway so that normal airport operations can be resumed as soon as possible.