A DHL cargo plane skidded on the runway of the most important airport in Costa Rica and broke in two, resulting in the total closure of the air terminal.
According to the Fire Department on Thursday, shortly before ten o'clock in the morning, the alert was received for an aircraft that had taken off from Juan Santamaría International Airport (15 kilometers west of San José) but decided to return when it detected a failure in its hydraulic system.
Hector Chaves, Costa Rica's Fire Director, commented that when it landed in the southern sector of the airport almost 30 minutes later, the plane skidded, turned and finally its fuselage split in two, exposing its cargo. “The units were mobilized to remove the pilot and co-pilot. Afterwards, foam was applied to prevent any spills and now work is being done on an earthen dam to prevent the spilled fuel from going into the sewer,” Chaves said.
According to the deputy director of Civil Aviation, Luis Miranda, the cargo plane was destined for La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City. Its crew consisted of only two people, the cargo and two and a half hours of fuel on board. The plane had only traveled 50 kilometers from the Costa Rican airport when it applied for permission to return.
The Fire Director also detailed that the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (Recope) will work on extracting the remaining fuel in the wings of the plane.
Both the pilot and the co-pilot are in good health, while Firefighters indicated that the cargo did not move from its place despite the impact and work is being done on the inventory to determine if there are hazardous substances inside.
Chaves also commented that once the plane crashed, it was possible to observe the leakage of a blue liquid corresponding to the hydraulic system, without which the aircraft lost the ability to use its brakes and spoilers.
The airport operator assured that the situation will force the entry and exit of aircraft to be closed until at least six in the afternoon (GMT-6), which will cause the diversion of at least 32 flights from North, Central and South America.
Some of these flights will be diverted to Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia City (200 kilometers northwest of San José), but because it is a small airport it will not be able to accommodate all diverted flights, which will also be sent to Panama and Guatemala or returned to their original destinations.
(With information from AP)
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