2023-08-14 22:44:53
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, failed on her second attempt to fly to Australia with the German Air Force. “Mission aborted! The error occurred once more with the now refueled machine,” said the Air Force on Twitter (X) late Monday evening. “We are now landing back in Abu Dhabi,” she added.
15 minutes following take-off at 1:00 a.m. local time (11:00 p.m./CEST), the Airbus A340-300 veered off course once more and initially flew back towards Abu Dhabi. The machine climbed at the beginning, but didn’t pick up any speed.
The spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office, Sebastian Fischer, then explained on Twitter (X): “The technical problem has just recurred despite previous flight tests. We are now returning to Abu Dhabi. That is very annoying”.
The government aircraft of the type A340 on the way to Australia had had to “return there once more for safety reasons” the day before following taking off from Abu Dhabi, the Air Force had previously explained. “Due to a technical malfunction, the wing flaps might not be retracted correctly.”
A few hours before the second attempt to take off, the German Air Force wrote on Twitter (X) that the journey might soon continue: “We have just carried out a functional check during a test flight”. There were no problems. “We are therefore planning to continue our journey to Sydney later this evening,” it said.
Baerbock left for a week-long trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji on Sunday. There were also technical problems with the government machine during the Foreign Minister’s trip to the Gulf in May. At that time, Baerbock had to extend her stay in the Emirate of Qatar by one day because the Air Force Airbus was unable to return as planned due to a flat tire.
1692054056
#German #Foreign #Minister #cancel #flight
