Merkel disembarks
© Jorg Blank/AFP/Getty Images
Angela Merkel disembarks at Cologne's airport after an emergency landing.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will likely miss the opening of the G20 summit in Argentina after her plane was forced to make an unscheduled landing after developing technical problems.

The plane, which was en route to Buenos Aires, turned back when it was over the Netherlands and landed in the German city of Cologne because it was the only base with a replacement aircraft, the German news agency DPA reported.

The Airbus A340 was met on the tarmac by fire engines, DPA said, adding that the captain told the passengers the plane had to turn back as a technical problem was disrupting several electrical systems. According to German military blog Augengeradeaus.net, the aircraft was transmitting a 7600 transponder code, indicating a radio failure.

"We will not be proceeding today," Merkel's spokeswoman told the news agency AFP.

According to tweets by German journalists on board the plane Merkel will leave for Madrid on Friday and head on a commercial flight for Buenos Aires with a slimmed down delegation. The Chancellery did not confirm these reports.

The G20 summit in Buenos Aires which starts on Friday comes amid growing economic uncertainty and global displeasure with Donald Trump's trade policy.