A1FlyBoy
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BERLIN, May 10, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Lightening triggered the anti- missile device on the military plane carrying German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder during his current visit abroad, the German Defense Ministry said on Friday.
The accident happened on Thursday evening when Schroeder was flying aboard a German military transporter on his way from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan.
Because of lightening in the northern Afghan sky, an anti- missile device beneath the military transporter was automatically opened, releasing stannic stripes and phosphorescent balls.
If really attacked, the stannic stripes and phosphorescent balls could confuse radar- or infrared-guided missiles.
A German Defense Ministry spokesman said that there was no real danger for the plane, which later landed safely in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
A German press report that the chancellor's plane was locked by hostile radar in the Afghan mountains was "false", the spokesman said.
The accident happened on Thursday evening when Schroeder was flying aboard a German military transporter on his way from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan.
Because of lightening in the northern Afghan sky, an anti- missile device beneath the military transporter was automatically opened, releasing stannic stripes and phosphorescent balls.
If really attacked, the stannic stripes and phosphorescent balls could confuse radar- or infrared-guided missiles.
A German Defense Ministry spokesman said that there was no real danger for the plane, which later landed safely in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
A German press report that the chancellor's plane was locked by hostile radar in the Afghan mountains was "false", the spokesman said.