Merkel survives a scare en route to Argentina, officials launch probe

BERLIN: German authorities are investigating possible sabotage of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plane after pilots cut short her trip to the Group of 20 summit in Argentina due to an electronics failure.

A government official said investigators are looking at all possible causes following a German media report that the incident is being examined as a possible criminal act.

The Airbus A340 experienced difficulties southwest of Amsterdam on Thursday, less than an hour into the flight from Berlin. A routine inspection suggests a technical malfunction of the plane’s air-to-ground communications systems, a German Air Force spokesman in Berlin said by phone.

At this point, there’s no immediate evidence of a crime, he told reporters.

The pilots dumped fuel, but even so, the plane touched down in Cologne with a heavy load for a transatlantic flight. News portal Spiegel Online reported the plane suffered a complete failure of its communications system that left the crew without contact with ground control.

The German leader planned to fly to Madrid on Friday and from there she would take a commercial flight to Argentina, accompanied by finance minister Olaf Scholz and a small delegation, according to an official.

The mediapersons who had been travelling with her will remain in Germany.