report
The flight commander is struggling for words – and the minister diplomatically packs her anger at the stuck landing flaps. About a technical disaster that also has political consequences.
“It’s all more than annoying.” That’s what it sounds like when a chief diplomat really has to make an effort to remain calm and diplomatic.
In any case, Annalena Baerbock can probably do without the word readiness to fly by the Bundeswehr in the coming days. For the second time in two days, your government plane had to turn back. Again the flaps didn’t work. Again it said: back to go.
It’s not just in the Foreign Ministry that they’re rubbing their eyes today.
The flight commander is also struggling for words
“I’ve been there for a few years. But nothing like this has ever happened in the flight readiness.” At 1.20 a.m. the flight commander of the A 340 stands in the back of the passenger compartment of the Airbus, which was once christened “Konrad Adenauer”, high above the waters off Abu Dhabi and tries to explain to the journalists traveling with him, which he himself does not really understand .
While 80 tons of kerosene are released into the night from the left and right of the wings because the plane is far too heavy to land again in Abu Dhabi, the experienced pilot says that they are experiencing a technical error that doesn’t actually exist could. But here it is.
“Sometimes it’s just crazy,” Baerbock said in writing. What she says on the plane is not for publication. In the Foreign Ministry, they are simply angry that the immensely important Indo-Pacific voyage has to be canceled because the Air Force cannot control the device.
Smooth test flight
On the evening before the second disaster, the pilots here in Abu Dhabi actually did a test flight with the empty A340. Doing laps to make sure everything really works the second time around. Then the signal: We can fly. Breathe a sigh of relief to all travelers.
The Foreign Office had blocked scheduled flights as a precaution. They have now been canceled because the readiness to fly was so confident. A mistake.
At 1.15 a.m. and 2000 meters high in the Airbus over the United Arab Emirates, confidence turned to horror. The flight commander, a man with a good sense of humour, laconically addressed the minister and fellow passengers over the on-board loudspeakers: “If you look at the corridor monitors, you will see the same flight behavior as yesterday. We are flying in circles.” Nobody laughed.
At the time, the machine had barely gained altitude and speed and had already left its trajectory on the 12,500-kilometer journey to Sydney. Eventually Sydney disappeared as the destination on the display.
Astonishment and anger on board
Abu Dhabi was again the start and end point of the trip. The landing flaps jammed again. “After the double disaster with the flap, they must have had enough,” says a fellow passenger, reflecting the mood on board. It is a mixture of incredulous amazement and anger that what the flight commander said could not have happened happened again.
“For everyone who is anxious on the road, there is absolutely no reason to be alarmed,” the commander tries to calm the passengers on board with a view to the upcoming landing. But unrest seems to have turned into trouble long ago.
For the fifth time in Abu Dhabi
When at 2.57 a.m. the Airbus rolls out onto the runway in Abu Dhabi for what is now the fifth time, the Foreign Minister is determined not to let a defective landing flap ruin her Indo-Pacific trip.
Baerbock is examining the option of flying a scheduled flight to Sydney, then later to Fiji and on Sunday also via a scheduled flight from Fiji to Germany. Motto: It also works without being ready to fly. The disadvantage: the costs increase immensely for all fellow travelers and the delegation is dependent on free seats.
But in the Foreign Ministry they have known for a long time that not only people in Germany are smiling about the fact that the Air Force apparently cannot fly the Foreign Minister to Australia in two attempts. This is also registered abroad. Mails from friendly nations with the smug message “Can we help?” do not diminish concerns about Germany’s reputation and image in the world.
More than just embarrassing
Baerbock had big plans for the trip. Indigenous art objects should be returned in Australia. She wanted to give a foreign policy keynote address on the value system in the Indo-Pacific region. Watch the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup.
The fact that her Australian counterpart Penny Wong, despite a party conference, arranged all appointments so that she had enough time for Baerbock increased the pressure to make the trip absolutely necessary. The region in the Indo-Pacific will decisively shape the world order of the 21st century. That’s how Baerbock thinks.
The fact that a landing flap prevented their initial visit is more than just embarrassing. Months of planning went into this one week, which is now failing due to a technical error that supposedly cannot exist.
“We have tried everything”
The chancellor has the luxury of always having access to two planes should one break down. It’s more complicated with the foreign minister. The fact that she recently had to change travel plans more often due to technical problems is probably reason enough for Baerbock to talk about the condition and number of aircraft ready to fly.
At around 7.30 a.m., however, the German Foreign Minister’s hopes of being able to fly to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji despite the shortened schedules are finally over. “We tried everything,” she writes on X, the former Twitter channel. Unfortunately, it is not logistically possible to continue the Indo-Pacific journey without the broken plane. “It’s beyond annoying.” And there it is again – the diplomatically packaged anger of a minister at stuck landing flaps and broken planes.