Belgian military plane heading to Lebanon had to turn around

The Belgian military plane which took off this Wednesday in the middle of the day towards Lebanon, loaded with medical equipment for Lebanese hospitals, had to turn around due to technical problems, Defense communicated in the afternoon.

The plane left the military airport in Cologne, Germany, shortly after midday, heading for Beirut. On the way back, it was to be used to repatriate Belgian citizens wishing to leave Lebanon, the target of Israeli strikes. The aircraft, an Airbus A330 MRTT, turned around over the Adriatic Sea due to “technical problems with one of the engines”. He landed around 3:00 p.m. in Cologne.

Defense does not say what happens for the moment to the device, and its cargo collected for local public hospitals as part of emergency aid (B-Fast). The Belgians who were to take this plane in the evening to leave Lebanon were informed of the incident, specifies Defense. Foreign Affairs and local collaborators are examining the possibility of a new flight “in the near future”.

Wednesday’s flight was the first organized directly by Belgium to repatriate its nationals. At the end of last week, several dozen Belgians were able to take advantage of places on Dutch military flights.