A drone carrying explosives crashed into the wing of a Ukrainian aircraft in Leipzig — Zeit
Kyiv • UNN
Video recordings showed that an armed drone crashed into the wing of a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig Airport. The explosives did not detonate, but the reasons for this remain unclear.
The armed drone found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig Airport in Germany had in fact crashed into its wing. This is evidenced by surveillance camera footage, the German publication Die Zeit reports, according to UNN.
Details
"Since an armed drone was discovered at Leipzig Airport on Wednesday evening, many details have emerged. These include the drone's size (a quadcopter approximately the size of a microwave oven, with four rotors), its location (near a Ukrainian cargo plane that was also carrying military cargo), and the type of explosive it was carrying (Semtex)," the publication writes.
However, according to the publication, some important questions about the sequence of events remain unanswered. In particular, how the armed drone approached the Ukrainian aircraft in the first place, which route it took, whether it was reconnoitering the aircraft, or whether it was attempting to fly underneath it.
"Video footage providing additional information was analyzed. This is because most of the airport grounds are covered by surveillance cameras. The video shows that Leipzig narrowly avoided a catastrophe, one that was far more serious than previously thought," the publication writes.
The footage shows an Antonov cargo plane parked at the airport. It also shows that at around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the object was flying directly toward the aircraft. Ultimately, it struck one of the wings. Wings are particularly vulnerable parts of an aircraft, since fuel tanks are usually located inside them. Anyone who wanted to blow up the aircraft would have detonated a bomb there. However, this did not happen in Leipzig. The footage shows that the object ricocheted off the wing and fell to the ground. Marks on one of the Antonov's wings confirm this likely sequence of events
At the same time, as the publication notes, the reason why the explosive device did not detonate remains unclear.
We remind you
Germany's Ministry of the Interior denied reports of a drone carrying explosives near a cargo aircraft loaded with ammunition. The aircraft was empty.