Q COSTARICA — On April 7, 2022, a Boeing 757-200 cargo plane operated by DHL Aero Expresso took off from Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, headed for Guatemala City. The aircraft, registered in Panama as HP-2010DAE and crewed by two Guatemalan pilots, soon encountered a hydraulic system failure combined with an unintended lever movement.
About an hour after departure, the pilots notified the Control Tower of the hydraulic issue and requested permission to return to El Coco Airport, the former and historical name for the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO).
The accident happened just south of runway 25, according to the final report (CR-ACC-CO-002-2022) released on September 22, 2023, by the Civil Aviation Technical Council’s Accidents and Incidents Unit (CETAC).
At around 10:30 a.m., roughly an hour after takeoff at 9:34 a.m., the plane attempted to land on Runway 07 but veered off. While braking, the pilots lost control, causing the aircraft to skid, spin 180 degrees, and crash into a ditch near the airport’s fire station. The fuselage broke in two at the tail section.
The 22-year-old plane was deemed a total loss. The airport shut down for several hours, disrupting about 30 commercial and cargo flights. Many incoming flights were diverted to Guanacaste Airport (LIR) in Liberia.
The report detailed that the left engine’s thrust was increased at a time when standard operating procedures did not call for it. This inadvertent movement of the left power lever contributed to the runway excursion. Investigators found the thrust levers in the retracted position when they arrived, consistent with the actions taken before completing the “Shutdown Procedure” checklist.
The hydraulic failure was traced back to excessive pressure causing multiple fractures in the wire strands of a flexible hydraulic hose linked to the left main landing gear’s down-lock actuator. These fractures showed signs of fatigue, cracks, and separation.
Blood alcohol tests for both surviving pilots came back negative. The accident also caused damage to nearby slopes and canals, spanning about 605 square meters.
Environmental impacts included nearly 8.32 cubic meters of hydrocarbons leaking into the soil, affecting 800 square meters of green space near taxiway Alpha and the southern access road. Additionally, 7,400 square meters of grassland suffered damage.
The accident was split into two main causes: the hydraulic system failure and a contributing factor related to pilot controls.
The hydraulic issue was caused by fatigue and tension in the individual cables within the flexible hydraulic hose for the left main landing gear’s down-lock actuator. Meanwhile, data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder revealed that the accident was influenced by an unintentional, simultaneous movement of the right reverse thrust lever and the left engine control thrust lever. These moves were not part of the standard “Landing Roll Procedure” or “After Landing Procedure” checklists.
Though the power levers were moved during a phase when the aircraft was supposed to be decelerating, the investigation ruled out human error as a cause.
After the crash, the airport preserved the plane’s fuselage remains next to the first fire station on the south side of the airport, using it as a training tool for firefighters.
Photo credit to the photographers.