Did you know there are over 100,000 commercial flights a day? That’s not including private and cargo flights. Most go without a hitch, of course, but every so often something goes wrong. A shocking video is going viral on Reddit depicting a cargo plane breaking in half during an emergency landing. Not something you see every day.
According to the poster, the incident takes place in Costa Rica. The cargo plane, complete with DHL livery, seems to land smoothly enough. But it’s clear that something is amiss from the fire truck waiting just next to the runway. Clearly, the plane had radioed that it was in trouble and needed to make an emergency landing.
The landing seems to go smoothly enough at first. As the plane passes, though, the smoke billowing from its back wheels shows that the pilot is trying to slam on the brakes. Usually, planes’ brakes have anti-skid systems to prevent this occurring, so it’s probably safe to assume these were inoperable. Flaps are protruding on the plane’s wings, however, so it seems like its air brakes were still functioning.
For some reason, though, the plane suddenly goes out of control. It veers to the right, skidding sideways across the runway. It reminded a commenter on Reddit of a car drifting. “Whipping the handbrake up like he’s in McDonalds car park trying to impress some school girls.“
The truly shocking part, however, comes when the plane lurches off the runway after the emergency landing. Perhaps the plane’s fuselage is under too much pressure. Whatever the cause, the plane snaps in half, leaving the nose poking up toward the sky and the rear flat on the ground. Unsurprisingly, smoke billows out of the aircraft.
One Redditor saw the funny side, quipping, “Well…now I know what happened to my package.” In all seriousness, though, it’s a huge relief that this wasn’t a passenger plane. It’s hard to imagine how many casualties there may have been if it had been. We can only hope that the pilots were extricated from the wreckage safely.
