Technical trouble grounds German government plane in Leipzig

A German Air Force aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Leipzig on the evening of July 21 following a cockpit alert shortly after takeoff. 

The Airbus A319, operated by the Bundeswehr’s Special Air Mission Wing, had departed Berlin and was en route to its home base in Cologne when the pilot decided to divert to Leipzig as a precaution, a Luftwaffe spokesperson confirmed on July 22, Caliber.Az cites German media.

Just before the incident, a delegation that included German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) had exited the aircraft in Berlin. Dobrindt had been visiting the EU’s external border with Belarus together with Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak to assess the situation firsthand.

The aircraft, described as a civilian-configured Luftwaffe jet, will be examined by Air Force technicians during the day. Only after inspection will it be determined whether the aircraft requires repairs or can continue flying.

This latest incident adds to a series of technical problems that have plagued German government aircraft in recent years.

In August 2023, former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had to cancel a high-level trip to Australia when her Airbus A340 experienced repeated technical failures. On two separate occasions, the aircraft was unable to retract its wing flaps after takeoff from Abu Dhabi, forcing it to dump approximately 80 tons of fuel each time and return to the UAE capital.

In May 2024, then-Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) was delayed for nearly four hours in Venice due to mechanical issues with his aircraft.

And in November 2024, former Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was left stranded in Portugal after a malfunction on his Airbus A350. According to reports, the problem was traced to a defect in the ignition circuit of one of the engines, which triggered a fuse to blow and grounded the aircraft.

By Tamilla Hasanova