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Plane carrying German leader to G20 summit forced to land due to technical problem — media

The crew decided to land in Cologne when a malfunction was reported in some of the plane’s electronic systems

BERLIN, November 30. /TASS/. The plane carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the G20 summit in Argentina was forced to land in Cologne following an in-flight equipment problem, the DPA news agency reported.

DPA said the flight lasted for about an hour and the plane was in the Dutch airspace when the crew made the decision to return back to Germany.

According to the agency, the German chancellor was communicating with journalists when a flight attendant approached her and asked her to proceed to the negotiations room, saying the matter was "very important."

When Merkel returned, she said the plane will have to return back to Germany due to a technical failure. The crew decided to land in Cologne.

According to initial information, a malfunction was reported in some of the plane’s electronic systems. The plane was met on the tarmac by emergency vehicles.

The German government’s official spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told DPA that the German chancellor will spend the night at a hotel in Cologne and depart for the G20 summit in Argentina on board a regular flight on Friday morning. Therefore, she will have to skip some of the summit’s events.

This is not the first technical problem experienced by the German government’s plane. Recently, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had to delay his departure due to a technical problem. In March 2014, Merkel’s plane broke down prior to her departure to Egypt.

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