Ministry rejects allegations
“Especially flown in on vacation”: whirlwind flight by Christine Lambrecht’s son with a Bundeswehr helicopter
Bundeswehr helicopter of the Eurocopter Cougar AS 532 U2 type (archive image) – was Christine Lambrecht’s son’s flight legal?
© Stefan Sauer / DPA / Picture Alliance
Did Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht let her son fly on vacation in a Bundeswehr helicopter? A media report suggests this, but the ministry vehemently disagrees.
After a media report about her son’s helicopter flight, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht is confronted with a controversial allegation – but she strictly rejects it.
The magazine “Business Insider” wrote on Monday that the son of the SPD politician had flown on vacation in a helicopter belonging to the Bundeswehr’s flight readiness service.
Christine Lambrecht’s son used Bundeswehr helicopters
According to the report, the 21-year-old posted a photo of himself in the government helicopter on Easter Sunday (April 15) on Instagram. His mother had already left for Schleswig-Holstein to visit the troops there and then take a short vacation on Sylt.
The suspicion of “Business Insider”: “Was your son flown in by the flight service on April 15 on vacation, as the photo suggests at first glance?” This would indeed be an abuse of the privileges of members of the federal government – and would have the makings of a scandal.
The house of Christine Lambrecht vehemently contradicts this account: Although the ministry confirmed that Lambrecht’s son flew to Schleswig-Holstein with the government helicopter, it was by no means an abuse of the willingness to fly.
Rather, it was a “flight of a family member of Lambrecht,” said the Ministry of Defense, according to the AFP news agency. The minister was therefore on board. Also, the flight did not take place on April 15, as the Instagram posting suggested, but on April 13. In fact, the upload date of a photo on Instagram does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the date it was taken. The photo of the 21-year-old can no longer be found.
In addition, Christine Lambrecht “according to the guideline covered 100 percent of the costs for the family member’s flight,” it said. The rules for using the readiness to fly stipulate that “an amount equal to the normal tariff of Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH economy class) must be paid to the Bundeswehr” if, for example, family members use the service. According to the ministry, the name of Lambrecht’s son and the reimbursement of costs were “clearly noted” on the passenger list for the flight. The entire process was “in full compliance with the guidelines for the use of aircraft of the flight readiness”.
Sources:“Business Insiders”, Bundeswehr flight readinessnews agencies AFP and DPA