According to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the captain decided to turn around one hour after takeoff from Berlin because "electrical systems had failed after technical problems." The four-engined Airbus was met on the runway by fire department trucks. Neither Merkel nor any other occupants were reported to be injured. According to media reports, the plane had left Berlin at 7pm and landed at 9pm.
The chancellor will continue to Argentina on the German Air Force's other A340 VIP transport. The A340 involved in the incident has the German military registration 16+01 and bears the name of Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of newly democratic Germany after World War II. Adenauer led then-West Germany from 1949 until 1963.
The plane used to fly for German carrier Lufthansa, with the registration D-AIGR and bearing the name of the city of Leipzig. It was taken off service in 2009 after 10 years of commercial flying and parked, before being bought by the air force in 2011 and adapted for VIP transport. The A340 was the first true long-range airplane produced by the European planemaker, and competed head to head with the Boeing 777, ultimately going out of production when the US-made Boeing proved to be more fuel-efficient.
Merkel is going to fly to Argentina aboard sister ship 16+02, another former Lufthansa bird, which was also built in 1999 and joined the air force in 2011.
