BERLIN, Aug 5 (Reuters) – A DHL cargo aircraft hit an unknown object as it was climbing away from Leipzig/Halle airport in eastern Germany overnight, prompting an unscheduled landing in Hanover, a source familiar with the incident told Reuters on Wednesday.
Authorities said they were investigating a drone found near a runway at the airport during the night, which the Bild newspaper said contained a detonator.
The southern runway of the airport, a major hub for the logistics group DHL and Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines, remained closed while explosives experts examined the drone, a police spokesperson said.
Several aircraft, including a passenger flight, were diverted overnight, but operations were back to normal in the morning, the spokesperson said.
German airports are on high alert after a series of unauthorised drone overflights at sites including military facilities, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies.
Federal police have said the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.
DRONE FOUND NEAR LEIPZIG/HALLE AIRPORT RUNWAY
Bild reported that a drone with an explosive device had been found lying in the immediate vicinity of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane shortly before midnight on Tuesday. The airline has used Leipzig/Halle as an operating base since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
X-ray imaging revealed a detonator inside, but it was defective, according to Bild.
The explosive may have been one that can be made easily from fertiliser and gasoline, it added.
While air traffic was being diverted, one cargo plane had to abort its landing. It then hit an unknown object before later landing in Hanover, where minor damage to the nose section was discovered, according to the report.
An Interior Ministry spokesperson confirmed that a drone had been found at Leipzig/Halle but gave no further details.
European security agencies have been investigating a series of incendiary devices concealed in parcels that caught fire in 2024, raising concerns about sabotage of air cargo operators.
Some of the devices were found at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig and in freight shipments in transit across Europe.
Another Interior Ministry spokesperson said no connection with Tuesday night’s incident could be determined at this stage.
Russia has denied any involvement in the 2024 incidents and the more recent overflights.
DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said the German logistics firm was still studying the overnight incident, but trying to minimise the effect on customers.
(Reporting by Friederike Heine in Berlin and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf, additional reporting by Markus Wacket; writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Sabine Wollrab and Kevin Liffey)
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