Bus Driver Stops Drone at German Airport
PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: The empennages of a DHL cargo plane and Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Germany, August 5, 2026, after the police said explosives experts examined a drone found near a runway, and after a DHL cargo aircraft hit an unknown object as it was climbing away from the airport overnight, prompting an unscheduled landing in Hanover, according to a source familiar with the incident. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo
BERLIN, Aug. 7 — A bus driver knocked an explosive-laden drone out of the air at Leipzig/Halle airport this week, potentially preventing an attack at a major NATO and cargo logistics hub, a senior German lawmaker said Friday.
The driver spotted the drone flying low while working at the airport late Tuesday and kicked at it, according to Detlef Seif, a member of the governing conservative CDU party and the parliamentary interior committee. The drone crashed nearby and was later found to contain professional explosives and a detonator, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors have opened a counterterrorism investigation into what they described as a serious attack that could have affected Germany’s domestic and foreign security. The drone incursion was reported Wednesday, and Seif’s account provided the most detailed description so far of how the aircraft was spotted and brought down.
Authorities have not identified the driver, said where the drone originated or explained how it entered a restricted section of the airport.
Leipzig/Halle is the main operational base for NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution, known as SALIS, which uses Antonov aircraft to transport equipment, including for missions supporting NATO’s eastern flank. The airport is also used by logistics companies including DHL.
German authorities have previously accused Moscow of carrying out hybrid attacks, a term used for hostile actions that fall short of acts of war. Moscow has denied those accusations, and the Russian Embassy in Berlin did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Leipzig/Halle incident.
German media reported that the drone was found near several Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo planes, among the world’s largest freighters. A Reuters journalist saw police collecting evidence near one of the aircraft early Wednesday.
“A bus driver kicked the drone away while it was flying low. It then crashed and came to rest on the ground,” Seif told journalists. “The bus driver’s action was very daring and courageous, but also very dangerous. It is possible that his intervention prevented the intended attack.”
Armin Schuster, interior minister for the state of Saxony, praised the driver but warned others not to follow his example.
“But it’s not a model to be emulated. Letting us know would be enough,” Schuster told regional broadcaster MDR.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz held a call to discuss the incident, a government spokesperson said Friday. The spokesperson added that Merz was in constant contact with Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and other cabinet members.
(Source: Reuters)
