Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Video Credit: CEN /@gerardo.moraordonez
This is the moment a small plane with four American tourists on board makes an emergency landing due to a landing gear fault and the fuselage scrapes along the runway before coming to a stop.
Four American tourists, the pilot and co-pilot were travelling on board the aircraft over the district of Cobano in the province of Puntarenas in western Costa Rica when the landing gear failed, according to reports.
The local authorities were alerted to the technical issue at around 1.52pm and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Tobias Bolanos International Airport, the secondary airport serving the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, according to fire brigade spokesperson Gerardo Guzman.
Five firefighting units and five Red Cross ambulances were sent to the scene.
Firefighters sprayed the plane with foam to cool it down and the passengers managed to disembark by themselves, according to local media.
Reports said the four American tourists and the pilots were taken to the airport terminal for medical checks, but no one required hospital treatment.
Video Credit: CEN
According to Alvaro Vargas, general director of Civil Aviation, the plane was a twin-engine GA34 aircraft leased by the local flight company Carmonair Charter which had taken off from Tambor.
He also named the pilot as Alvaro Chavarria who managed to successfully land the plane without use of the landing gear.
The Tobias Bolanos International Airport was reportedly closed for two hours as the emergency services attended the scene.
Vargas confirmed that the incident is currently under investigation.
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