Foreign Minister Annalena Berbach has another plane crash: On a trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, a government plane landed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to refuel – after which the green politician could go no further. The reason for the unplanned stop was a technical defect in the landing flaps.
Despite the breakdown of his government plane, Perbach stuck to his trip to the Pacific. “We may continue our journey to Australia in the evening,” it said on Monday afternoon local time from embassy sources in Abu Dhabi. It is currently being checked whether the airline can continue the journey with the flight or if there is a possibility of a scheduled flight.
After a routine refueling stop in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the Airbus took off. A340-300 Bundeswehr flight readiness early Monday morning as scheduled. However, three minutes after takeoff at 3:33 am local time (1:33 am CEST), the flight captain recorded a malfunction while retracting the landing flaps. After crews drained about 80 tons of kerosene from the fully fueled plane during a two-hour maneuver over the desert emirate and the sea, Birbach and his delegation landed safely in Abu Dhabi at 5:33 a.m. local time.
The failure of the landing flaps to fully and synchronously retract as required prevented the aircraft from attaining normal cruising altitude and speed. Also, the use of kerosene has also increased. The aircraft took off from Abu Dhabi at 271 tonnes, fully fueled for a flight of around 14 hours. Landing weight must be less than 190 tonnes.
The flight captain talked about a normal landing, which is practiced in such a situation in the simulator. He has been a pilot for 35 years and served in the Air Force for 30 years. Such a mistake has never happened in this era, he said.
A Foreign Office spokesman had previously said on board: “Due to an engine problem, we have to return to Abu Dhabi for safety reasons.” On the ground, the flight crew must first check with on-board resources to see if the damage can be repaired or if spare parts are needed. It is also conceivable that a replacement flight should be dispatched to the Gulf emirate from the ready-to-fly destination Cologne/Bonn. Another possibility is to travel with a small part of the ministerial entourage on a scheduled flight, with the rest of the fellow passengers following on a government flight.
Failed radio, nibbled cables – there are always flaws
Until mid-May, he had to involuntarily extend his trip to the Gulf region when his government Airbus suffered tire damage in Doha, in the desert emirate of Qatar.
But other members of the government had to take an unscheduled stay because of a malfunction in an engine already used by the Bundeswehr’s air readiness service. For example, the Air Force had to do Airbus Konrad Adenauer In November 2018, on the way to the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires with then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and then Finance Minister Olaf Scholes (SPD). Among other things, the radio system was disabled. Both flew to Argentina.
In October 2018, during a stopover in Indonesia, rodents tripped over critical cables. Adinayar at. At that time, Scholz returned on a scheduled flight from the International Monetary Fund meeting. In December 2016, then Defense Minister Ursula van der Leyen (CDU) was stranded en route to Mali. A computer problem on his A340 forced him to stay the night in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
Flight readiness does a “great job”.
Despite the renewed malfunction of a government aircraft, the central government sees the navy in better shape. One was “very satisfied,” deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said when asked about the readiness to fly. “The Bundeswehr’s readiness to fly is doing a great job,” Büchner said. The aircraft will be “well maintained”. As far as an aircraft is concerned, age does not matter, the state of maintenance does. “These aircraft are maintained in a manner comparable to any new aircraft in terms of safety.” A total of 16 aircraft and three helicopters are on standby for the Defense Department Air Mission to transport politicians.
“Technical experts are currently on site and checking everything,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said. However, the incident is difficult to reproduce on the ground. Everything is done to find the cause, remedy it, and ensure Baerbock’s safe journey. He also assured that flight readiness was not affected by frequent breakdowns and the fleet was smaller than that of comparable airlines. “We are at the technical level of a well-known airline, very ordinary. The planes are serviced by a well-known airline.” End of use of the type of machine in question A340-300 Scheduled for the end of September.
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