QCOSTARICA – DHL, the German logistics company, said on Thursday an investigation will be carried out on the cause of the incident that resulted in the B757-200F veering off the runway and breaking in half on landing, after declaring an emergency.
The incident occurred before noon when flight JOS2716 left the Juan Santamaria (San Jose) airport on a routine flight headed for Guatemala, loaded with packages, with only the pilot and co-pilot on board, who were not seriously injured.
The crew had reported a hydraulic system failure and tried to burn as much of the fuel recently loaded as it could before being forced to touch down.
“We can confirm that a DHL de Guatemala SA B757-200F flight JOS2716 sustained damage upon landing at Juan Santamaria airport in Costa Rica.
“We are pleased to report that the crew were physically unharmed in the incident. One crew member underwent medical checks as a precaution. We are coordinating with the airport authorities on moving the aircraft from the area near the runway. However, the runway has reopened and operations have now resumed at the airport.
“DHL’s incident response team has been activated and an investigation will be conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened. Until then, we are unable to share any further information,” said the cargo service in a statement.
A much clearer version of the crash landing has emerged!
Source: Unknown#DHL #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/FCYbgFaW0H
— AviationSource (@AvSourceNews) April 7, 2022
Incoming flights diverted; outgoing flights grounded
The San Jose airport halted all operations while rescue and clean up crews attended to the incident, affecting more than 30 incoming and outgoing flights and an estimated 8,500 passengers.
Incoming flights already in the air were diverted to the Guanacaste airport (LIR), in Liberia, others were delayed or canceled.
Outgoing flights were grounded. Lines of passengers waiting to leave Costa Rica reached inside the parking structure across from the main terminal.
Originally, Aeris, the airport manager, had announced that airport operations would resume by 3:00 pm, later updating it to 6:00 pm, however, the opening of the terminal occurred earlier than estimated.
In total, 21 incoming flights were canceled, and 27 outgoing flights were affected.
Ricardo Hernández, General Director of AERIS, confirmed that flights from San Salvador, Mexico City, Newark, Toronto and Miami, with 806 passengers, were diverted to Liberia.
