Moments of great fear at San José International Airport, Costa Rica, where a cargo plane carrying mail and packages went off the runway and broke in two.
The aircraft, a yellow plane of the German logistics giant DHL, overturned during an emergency landing, breaking at the rear wheels and emitting a cloud of smoke. On board were the two pilots, who were unharmed but in shock and taken to hospital as a precaution.
The incident occurred yesterday shortly before 10:30 (18:30 Italian time) after the plane, a Boeing-757 took off from Juan Santamaria International Airport, outside San Jose, was forced to turn back to 25 minutes from the start due to a mechanical breakdown.
The crew had reportedly alerted local authorities of a plumbing problem.
The accident therefore caused the temporary closure of the largest airport in the country with an impact on hundreds of flights and over 8,000 passengers.
Activities are now back to normal.
(Unioneonline / vl)