The plane in which the German soccer team was returning after playing in Iceland had to land unexpectedly in Edinburgh due to a “problem in the electrical generator,” said the airline that managed the flight on Thursday.
Players and technical team finally arrived in Frankfurt in another device this Thursday at 13:30 GMT, 14 hours after starting the trip.
The first plane, which was to fly directly between Reykjavik and Frankfurt, was managed by the Lithuanian charter company KlasJet.
“In accordance with Boeing and company security protocol, the team decided to go to the nearest airport,” a KlasJet spokesman told the German sports agency SID (AFP subsidiary), “to ensure that passengers were not exposed to a higher risk ”.
According to a first preliminary internal investigation, this decision was considered “justified and in accordance with the regulations”. The landing was carried out without a hitch.
“There was nothing spectacular and it was not an emergency landing,” said acting co-president of the German Football Association (DFB) Rainer Koch.
“We do not hear of a technical problem. We could have been scared, but they only told us just before landing that we were going to stop over for a maintenance operation. I was suddenly surprised to see the houses so close, “he added.
Germany played and beat Iceland 4-0 on Wednesday in a qualifying match for the World Cup in Qatar-2022.
The captain of the national team Manuel Neuer, Serge Gnabry and Joshua Kimmich, all three from Bayern Munich, were not in the plane because they had planned to take a direct plane to Munich this Thursday. AFP (HN)