A DHL cargo plane was split in half as it made an emergency landing at the Juan Santamaria international airport in Costa Rica reportedly due to issues with its hydraulic system.

Flight D07216 had left the airport for Guatemala City at around 9:39 am local time on April 7 but had to turn back after an hour because of problems with its hydraulic landing gear.

Dramatic footage taken at the airport in Alajuela province shows the yellow Boeing 757-200 aircraft with the DHL logo skidding on the tarmac while emitting thick white smoke. It made a sharp turn on the runway before snapping into two, with its midsection collapsing to the ground.

There were two crew members on board at the time, but they were reportedly unharmed. The airport was closed following the accident that happened at around 10:30 am local time, but was reopened at 3:30 pm on the same day.

Airport operator Aeris said around 8,500 passengers and 57 commercial and cargo flights had been disrupted.

A DHL spokesperson said: 'DHL’s incident response team has been activated and an investigation will be conducted with the relevant authorities to determine what happened.'