Airbus "Konrad Adenauer": Technical fault – Merkel must stop her flight to the G20

Stand: 21:37 | Reading time: 2 minutes

WChancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had to suspend her flight Thursday night to attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires due to a technical failure of Chancellor Airbus "Konrad Adenauer". After about an hour of flight, the plane returned to the Chancellor aboard by the Netherlands.

The Airbus landed safely in Cologne, where the Chancellor wanted to install a replacement machine. Merkel was on her way to Argentina with Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD). First, the military blog "Eyes Straight" reported problems with the machine.

The machine with Merkel on board was launched at 19:00 in Berlin, she landed at 21:00 in Cologne. During one of the usual background conversations with journalists traveling on board, the Chancellor was taken to the meeting room of the aircraft shortly before 8 pm with the words "It's important". Shortly after, Merkel announced that she had to go home due to a technical defect. The airport of Cologne is the port of attachment of the government aircraft. In addition, the remaining flight time to Cologne was lower than that of Berlin.

At about 8.30 pm, the captain informs the Chancellor and the other travelers that they are no longer on the way to Buenos Aires. The reason is a technical problem, which has the consequence that some electrical systems have failed in the plane. Therefore, we could not continue flying over the Atlantic.

The plan is to fly to Cologne because there is the only eligible replacement machine. Aviation readiness is already in the planning phase to show alternatives, how could this be done in Buenos Aires. "You really do not need to worry about anything else – we will soon be landing in Cologne safely."

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At Cologne airport, fire extinguishing vehicles are expected. Merkel's plane, which landed hard, the flight to Cologne can be emptied of too large quantities of fuel.

Government aircraft still cause problems – recently, the visit of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had also been delayed due to a technical defect of his machine.