Plane carrying Queen Mathilde forced to make terrifying emergency landing after windscreen smash

The level was forced to marque a precedence landing astatine Juan Santamaría International Airport aft a malfunction appeared successful the cockpit - Queen Mathilde was connected board

A level carrying the Queen of Belgium was forced to marque an exigency landing aft the craft malfunctioned.

Queen Mathilde, the 52-year-old woman of Belgian monarch King Philippe, was flying to Costa Rica for a three-day royal sojourn connected Sunday erstwhile the KLM-operated Boeing 787-9 had to marque an aboriginal landing soon earlier arrival. The formation PH-BHD took disconnected from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and was connected its mode to Juan Santamaría International Airport successful San José erstwhile a ace abruptly appeared successful the cockpit window. The unit continued the formation but requested precedence landing astatine the Costa Rican airport, which was granted. KLM aboriginal confirmed the incident, and stated that the information of the passengers and unit was ne'er astatine risk.

Images shared online showed shattered solid astatine the beforehand of the cockpit. One antheral besides connected committee said passengers were not informed of the contented during the flight. Belgian royal commentator Wim Dehandschutter wrote connected X: "The aeroplane with Belgian Queen Mathilde landed successful Costa Rica with a cracked windshield, according to this relationship and section media. I was connected that flight. As passengers, we didn’t announcement anything, and we didn’t person immoderate notification during the formation oregon upon landing."

"Our KLM formation did permission Schiphol 20 minutes late, determination was turbulence - arsenic connected galore flights - and the landing was rather hard, but thing seemed to beryllium alarming. So I was a spot amazed erstwhile I work reports successful the section media and connected X astir the 'emergency landing'."

Queen Mathilde, who was heading to the South American state arsenic portion of a Unicef mission, was not harmed. Later successful the time she was officially welcomed to the state by children waving nationalist and Unicef flags, and met Costa Rica's president, Rodrigo Chaves and archetypal woman Signe Zeikate. No subject honours were given, arsenic Costa Rica has nary army. She besides visited a java plantation supporting children of seasonal workers, and stopped astatine a assemblage programme for susceptible children.

The damaged Boeing 787-9 was taken retired of the regular formation docket aft landing, reported Aviation Direct, and is present successful Costa Rica awaiting repairs. Passengers owed to usage the level for the instrumentality limb were rebooked connected alternate connections.