DHL cargo plane skids off runway, crashes on landing: video

Dramatic video captured the moment a DHL cargo plane skidded off a runway and broke in two after making an emergency landing in Costa Rica this week, with smoke billowing from the debris.

The Boeing 757-200 took off from Juan Santamaria International Airport in the capital San Jose for a flight to Guatemala around 10:00 a.m. Thursday when the pilots declared an emergency due to a hydraulic failure.

The crew asked to return to the airport and were cleared to land on a runway there. The air traffic controller informed the pilots that emergency vehicles were on standby.

But after touchdown was the yellow plane captured on video turn right, spin around and lose its landing gear as smoke pours out of the fuselage, which broke in two.

“We are pleased to report that the crew was not physically injured in the incident. A crew member underwent a precautionary medical examination,” DHL told airlinesourcenews.com.

Airport operator Aeris said regular operations resumed at 3:30 p.m. local time, several hours earlier than expected, Reuters reported.

About 8,500 passengers and 57 commercial and cargo flights were affected by the closure, according to Aeris.

DHL and airport authorities said they were working together to move the wreckage, which did not affect operations.

“DHL’s Incident Response Team has been activated and an investigation is being conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened,” DHL said.