Drone found at German airport after cargo plane collides with object mid-air

A DHL cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing after colliding with an unknown object as it was climbing away from Germany’s Leipzig airport, where police later found a drone on the ground.

The German government on Wednesday confirmed the incident, which led to serious disruption of air traffic.

The Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation said the DHL aircraft hit something above Leipzig airport before safely landing in Hanover. Minor damage to the nose section was discovered, the tabloid Bild reported.

The logistics company, which uses Leipzig as a major hub, confirmed an “incident” near the airport that authorities were investigating.

Separately overnight, a drone was spotted near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft at Leipzig airport, a Nato spokesperson told German news agency DPA, which cited security sources as saying the drone was fitted with explosives and a detonator.

An interior ministry spokesperson said a drone was found at the airport but declined to elaborate, citing the continuing investigation.

Several aircraft, including a passenger plane from Mallorca, were diverted and operations in the northern part of the airport resumed only two hours later.

The southern runway, where the drone was found, remained closed. Police deployed a bomb disposal robot to examine the object and were investigating whether the incidents were linked.

Germany and other European countries have faced a series of suspicious unauthorised drone overflights at airports, military facilities, ports and logistics companies. They have accused Russian agents of being behind some of the flights, which Moscow has repeatedly denied.

European security agencies have investigated 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.

The German interior ministry spokesperson declined to comment on a possible link between the overnight incident and the 2024 case in Leipzig.

Tobias Meyer, chief executive of DHL, said the company was studying events. “We’ve ‌got plans for cases ​like this, and ​we’ll try to make sure that the influence on our customers will be as low as possible,” he said during a quarterly results call, Reuters reported.

Germany is the biggest single national supplier of military aid to Ukraine and has accused Russia of orchestrating a campaign of sabotage, espionage and disinformation against it, which the Kremlin has denied.

Last year a Chinese national was convicted for passing on information about flight schedules and cargo movements at Leipzig-Halle airport to a man spying for Beijing.