The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, missed 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 on Thursday 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.

“We will not be proceeding today,” Merkel’s spokeswoman told the news agency AFP.

On Friday, Merkel’s office said that she and a small delegation, including the finance minister, took a different government plane to Madrid and then boarded a commercial flight to Buenos Aires.

According to German military blog Augengeradeaus.net, her original aircraft was transmitting a 7600 transponder code, indicating a radio failure.