The plane was forced to make a priority landing at Juan Santamaría International Airport after a malfunction appeared in the cockpit – Queen Mathilde was on board
A plane carrying the Queen of Belgium was forced to make an emergency landing after the aircraft malfunctioned.
Queen Mathilde, the 52-year-old wife of Belgian monarch King Philippe, was flying to Costa Rica for a three-day royal visit on Sunday when the KLM-operated Boeing 787-9 had to make an early landing shortly before arrival. The flight PH-BHD took off from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and was on its way to Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José when a crack suddenly appeared in the cockpit window. The crew continued the flight but requested priority landing at the Costa Rican airport, which was granted. KLM later confirmed the incident, and stated that the safety of the passengers and crew was never at risk.
Images shared online showed shattered glass at the front of the cockpit. One man on board said passengers were not informed of the issue during the flight. Belgian royal commentator Wim Dehandschutter wrote on X: “The aeroplane with Belgian Queen Mathilde landed in Costa Rica with a cracked windshield, according to this account and local media. I was on that flight. As passengers, we didn’t notice anything, and we didn’t receive any notification during the flight or upon landing.”
“Our KLM flight did leave Schiphol 20 minutes late, there was turbulence – as on many flights – and the landing was quite hard, but nothing seemed to be alarming. So I was a bit surprised when I read reports in the local media and on X about the ’emergency landing’.”
Queen Mathilde, who was heading to the South American country as part of a Unicef mission, was not harmed. Later in the day she was officially welcomed to the country by children waving national and Unicef flags, and met Costa Rica’s president, Rodrigo Chaves and first lady Signe Zeikate. No military honours were given, as Costa Rica has no army. She also visited a coffee plantation supporting children of seasonal workers, and stopped at a community programme for vulnerable children.
The damaged Boeing 787-9 was taken out of the regular flight schedule after landing, reported Aviation Direct, and is now in Costa Rica awaiting repairs. Passengers due to use the plane for the return leg were rebooked on alternative connections.
