Cargo Airplane Skids Off Runway, Breaks In Two At Costa Rica's San Jose International Airport | Watch

This accident provoked the temporary closure of the San Jose international airport.

Cargo plane breaks in two during emergency landing in Costa Rica (Image: AFP)

San Jose: A cargo airplane broke up during an emergency landing in Costa Rica earlier on Thursday.

This accident provoked the temporary closure of the San Jose international airport.

JOS7216 departed Juan Santamaria for Guatemala but had to return to the airfield due to a problem with the hydraulics in the left landing gear, Aviation Source reported.

The aircraft was then seen skidding off the runway and breaking into two.

Smoke was billowing from the bright yellow plane of German logistics giant DHL as it ground to a halt, having slid off the runway when it spun and broke up around the rear wheels.

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Hector Chaves, the chief of Costa Rica’s firefighters, said the two crew members aboard were “in a good condition”

Guido Vasquez, a Red Cross worker, on his part said the Guatemalan pair was sent to hospital as a precaution “for a medical check-up”.

Vasquez added that the pilot was shaken up but both crew were conscious and “remember everything vividly”.

The accident took place just before 10:30 am (1630 GMT) after the Boeing-757 plane, which had taken off from the Juan Santamaria international airport outside San Jose, was forced to return 25 minutes later for an emergency landing due to a mechanical failure.

In view of the same, the crew apparently had alerted local authorities to a hydraulic problem.

The airport was closed until 6:00 pm.