Angela Merkel: Airbus at the G20 meeting has to turn around. Technical fault! – domestic policy

Dramatic minutes aboard the government aircraft "Konrad Adenauer".

On the way from Berlin to the G20 summit in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, the A340-300 of the Luftwaffe was to cross the North Sea with Chancellor Angela Merkel (64, CDU) and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (60 years old, SPD). Intermediate Bonn.

The reason: a technical fault of the radio system! Supposedly, all radio contact was no longer working. The crossing of the Atlantic would have been too dangerous, said the captain.

According to the information provided by the "Spiegel", it was only possible, with the satellite phone onboard, to contact the flight control center and to plan the landing at the Cologne-Bonn airport.

The situation should have been so serious that the Minister of Defense, Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), was informed after the complete failure of the radio.

Serious words of the hostess: "it's important"

The Merkel plane was launched Thursday at 19 hours in Berlin-Tegel.

Just before 8 pm, an air hostess went to the meeting room where Angela Merkel was staying. His words to the Chancellor: "It's important."

At 2030, the captain informed pbadengers of the departure of the voyage, flew over the Dutch North Sea coast and at 2100 hours, the aircraft landed in Cologne.

At Cologne-Bonn airport, several fire-fighting vehicles were waiting for Merkel's plane. The plane lands hard, the flight to Cologne can be emptied too little fuel.

After landing, the aircraft brakes were tested because they were in high use due to the high mbad at the landing, according to the captain. Merkel and all other pbadengers were not allowed to leave the machine during this period and were stuck in the machine for more than 70 minutes.

Merkel described the blackout during the night as follows: "I can tell after the events that it was a serious disturbance". Fortunately, an "excellent crew" was on board. The Chancellor continues: "There was the most experienced captain of the state of flight readiness".

Merkel must stay in Bonn

If the government aircraft had landed in Frankfurt instead of Cologne, Merkel & Co would have had Lufthansa flight 510 to Buenos Aires. Instead, the Chancellor now sleeps with a delegation and her reporters in a four-star hotel in Bonn.

On Friday, she will then travel with Vice Chancellor Scholz (SPD) and a very small part of the delegation to the Spanish capital, Madrid, from there on a scheduled flight to Buenos Aires. Everything else, like the resumption of bilateral meetings, will then be clarified here, "said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.

Merkel wanted in Buenos Aires to meet US President Donald Trump (72) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (66) for talks.

Seibert said that we could have left on Friday with a replacement aircraft ready to fly much later than the solution chosen now. This is due to the availability of the necessary crew. Plain: There would have been a Luftwaffe plane, but no crew for that.

Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer, will not leave for Buenos Aires due to the blackout. He missed most of the affiliate program because of the delay.

Merkel will miss the start of the summit

Merkel will miss much of the first day of the summit, including the planned meeting with US President Trump!

Just four weeks ago, the "Konrad Adenauer" had to stay on the ground for several days because of the rats on board.