The airline Aeris said the airport, on the outskirts of the capital San Jose, reopened at 15:30 local time, several hours earlier than expected after the incident at 10 am. About 8,500 passengers and 57 commercial and cargo flights were affected by the closure, Aeris said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register DHL, part of Deutsche Post AG (DPWGn.DE), said the crew had suffered nothing and that a member was undergoing a medical examination for precautionary reasons. Pictures from Costa Rica’s La Nacion newspaper showed a yellow plane with the DHL logo flooded with fire foam where it had landed in a grassy field next to a runway. The tail was detached and a wing was broken, the photos show. The plane was heading to Guatemala when it apparently suffered a faulty hydraulic system, said Luis Miranda Munoz, deputy director of the Costa Rican Civil Aviation Authority. The issue prompted the pilot to request a forced landing shortly after takeoff, he said. A Boeing Co (BA.N) spokeswoman said she would ask questions of the investigators. DHL and airport authorities said they were cooperating to move the aircraft, although they said it did not affect operations. “DHL’s case management team has been activated and an investigation will be carried out with the competent authorities to determine what happened,” DHL said. Aeris initially estimated that the airport would remain closed until 6 p.m. local time, which would affect three cargo flights and 32 commercial flights to and from the United States, Central America, Mexico, Canada and Europe. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Alvaro Murillo in San Jose and Valentine Hilaire, Anthony Esposito and Kylie Madry in Mexico City. Edited by Alexandra Hudson and Bernard Orr Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
