Germany probes breach after half-naked man boards Merkel's jet

Germany is probing how a man, high on drugs and wearing only underpants, was able to board German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government jet.

The man, clutching a bag full of marijuana and ecstasy pills, danced on a wing, sprayed extinguisher foam around the plane and pushed buttons in the cockpit before finally arrested by

police, according to a report by Spiegel Online.

While the one-man party was happening, Merkel was hundreds of kilometers away at the Bayreuth festival in Bavaria, attending Wagner's opera "The Flying Dutchman."

The incident occurred on July 25 but is generating renewed attention after German newspapers published a police report on the incident.

Spiegel said the intruder is thought to be a bodybuilder of Turkish descent who had had a row with his girlfriend before climbing over the airport's security fence and entering the plane

through an open cockpit door.

The plane was parked at a closed military section of Cologne airport.

Newspaper reports said it took four hours for the police, private security guards and members of the Bundeswehr army to get the intruder off the plane. It wasn't until a police dog bit the

man on the leg that the police were able to arrest him.

For more on this story, read the original article on Spiegel Online.

Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

© 2025 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal