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A plane collided with an unidentified object in midair near Germany's Leipzig-Halle Airport, where police separately found a drone on the ground. The aircraft landed safely later, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.
"The plane was meant to land in Leipzig but then had to abort the landing," the spokesman told a news conference.
"It then collided with an object," he said, adding that the aircraft later landed safely in Hanover.
German police said Wednesday that a "security-related" incident involving an unidentified object at Leipzig-Halle Airport forced the diversion of flights and the deployment of a bomb disposal robot overnight.
Germany's Bild newspaper reported that the object found at the airport was a drone with a detonator and possibly explosives, discovered near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft.
Police contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) did not immediately confirm the report.
Video footage from a local news agency showed the bomb disposal robot near an Antonov plane with the words "Be Brave Like Kherson" written on the side, a reference to a Ukrainian region battered by Russian strikes.
Police said in a brief statement Wednesday morning that "shortly before midnight, an unidentified flying object was sighted near Leipzig-Halle Airport, prompting the diversion of several aircraft—including a passenger plane—to other airports."
A passenger plane from Mallorca, as well as several cargo planes heading to the airport, had to be diverted.
"In addition, an object was detected near the southern runway, which was initially examined by the Federal Police, a process that involved the deployment of an explosives disposal robot," police said.
Police did not confirm whether the object was detonated or whether it was the same one spotted earlier.
A police spokesman told AFP the incident did "not pose any danger for the public."
Regular traffic at the airport resumed in the early hours of Wednesday, but only on the north runway, while investigators searched for clues on the southern runway.
Bild also reported that another cargo plane later collided with an unknown object in midair about 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the airport.
The plane landed safely at Hanover airport, where minor damage was discovered on its nose section, the report said.
Germany and other European countries have repeatedly observed drones flying over sensitive sites, including airports, military bases and industrial plants.
Authorities in Germany, one of Ukraine's biggest military supporters, have said they suspect Russia of orchestrating many of the incidents as part of a campaign of sabotage, espionage and disinformation.
Russia has denied involvement in such incidents.
In July 2024, a parcel burst into flames on the ground at the Leipzig airport before it could be loaded onto a DHL cargo plane, part of what security services treated as a suspected Moscow-linked arson sabotage plot.
Last year, a Chinese national was convicted of passing information about flight schedules and cargo movements at the Leipzig-Halle Airport to a man spying for Beijing.
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