Flights paused at Dortmund Airport after minor small-plane accident

Flight operations at Dortmund Airport in western Germany were interrupted for about an hour on Wednesday after two people suffered minor injuries in an accident involving a small airplane.

The small aircraft broke through a fence while attempting to take off from the airport at around 11:45 am (0945 GMT) on Wednesday. The aircraft came to a halt in a field outside the airport, according to police.

The two occupants were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Take-offs were halted for around an hour after the accident, and incoming flights were diverted to other airports.

An airport spokesman told dpa that only a small handful of flights were affected and the impact was "minimal." The spokesman said the flight disruption ended by about 1 pm.

After such an incident, a safety check with a brief halt to flight operations is a normal procedure, he said.

The small aircraft had not yet taken off from the ground, so it was not considered a crash.