Instead of Chicago, a Lufthansa plane landed in Frankfurt. Before that, however, the Airbus started a low flight at a height of only 200 meters above Cologne / Bonn Airport in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Cologne – The direct flight from Munich to Chicago actually takes just under nine hours. For the passengers of a Lufthansa plane, however, a six-hour odyssey was reported from the comfortable non-stop trip on Wednesday (September 15) RUHR24*. In the end, the plane did not land in the “Windy City”, but in Frankfurt am Main. How did that happen?

NRW: Flight to Chicago starts after a flat tire for a low flight over Cologne / Bonn

Again Cologne city indicator reported, on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after 4 p.m., tire parts were discovered on the tarmac of the airport in Munich. These were parts of the tire’s casing. This could be assigned to a Lufthansa plane that had recently taken off for Chicago.

The aircraft with around 190 passengers was already over Scotland when the crew was informed of the incident at takeoff in Munich. The crew and air traffic control decided to have the damage to the tire inspected visually. So the pilot turned away and steered into Cologne / Bonn Airport North Rhine-Westphalia* a.

Video shows Airbus low-altitude flight over North Rhine-Westphalia airport: Ground staff inspect tire damage

There it came to a maneuver that was beautiful at first sight. The Airbus extended its landing gear and flew low over the North Rhine-Westphalia Airport at a height of just 200 meters. Indeed, such an offense is not uncommon. Due to the low altitude, the experts on the ground are able to detect the damage. A webcam filmed the low altitude flight (more News from NRW* at RUHR24).

It was found that the tire of the Lufthansa plane was damaged when it took off, but it did not burst. Still, it didn’t go further to Chicago. Instead, the Airbus should after the Low flight over North Rhine-Westphalia* land back in Munich. But the next problem was already waiting there.

Lufthansa plane lands safely in Frankfurt after flying low over NRW with tire damage

For one thing, the weather in Munich wasn’t ideal. On the other hand, there was only one runway available at the “Franz Josef Strauss” airport due to repair work. This would then have to be blocked after the aircraft had landed in order to search the runway again for remains of tires.

Instead, the pilot turned around again and headed for Frankfurt am Main Airport. Around 10:20 p.m. and after around six hours of flight time, the passengers landed there and were accommodated in hotels. The approximately 190 passengers continued their journey to Chicago on Thursday (September 16) with alternative flights, a Lufthansa spokesman said Frankfurter Neue Presse with. * RUHR24 is part of the editorial network of IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubric lists: © Ina Fassbender / AFP