German chancellor to miss G20 opening after aircraft troubles

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will miss the opening of the G20 summit in Argentina after technical issues forced her government plane to make an unscheduled but safe landing, German delegation sources said late on Thursday.

The delay will complicate Merkel's schedule at the meeting where the G20 members already expect to face very difficult negotiations on myriad issues.

The government's Airbus A340 aircraft carrying Merkel and her delegation to the G20 summit turned around after technical problems surfaced an hour into the 15-hour flight, and landed safely at the Cologne-Bonn airport.

The airplane captain told passengers he had decided to land after the "malfunction of several electronic systems", but said there had been no security risk.

Merkel and German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will resume their travel to Buenos Aires early on Friday, but the long flight time means they will arrive after world leaders start their discussions.

No details were immediately available about the cause of the technical issues. The German military blog Augengeradeaus reported that the plane's transponder was transmitting the code 7600 which refers to a radio malfunction.

Later, the delegation traveled by bus to a hotel in Bonn. Delegation sources said a different government plane would fly Merkel and Scholz to Madrid, where they would switch to a commercial carrier for the final leg of the trip.

Merkel, who had planned bilateral meetings with the heads of the United States, China, Russia, and India, was unlikely to arrive in Buenos Aires until Friday evening, German government sources said. It was not immediately clear which bilateral meetings would have to be rescheduled.

Scholz was grounded on the same A340 aircraft last month after an International Monetary Fund meeting in Indonesia, according to German media reports. They said the issue involved damage caused by rodents.