Drone carrying explosives found at German airport, an aircraft in flight nearby hit by unidentified object

[John J.]

Two possibly related events,

(1) A drone carrying an explosive device was found on the ground at Leipzig/Halle Airport, Germany, near Ukrainian cargo planes.
(2) A cargo aircraft in flight near the airport was hit by an unidentified object and sustained "minor damage".

It seems the events (or at least (1), the drone being spotted on the ground) occurred late at night, Tuesday 05 August 2026.
(2) is reported to have happened after (1), at a time when aircraft were being diverted from Leipzig/Halle due to the drone's discovery. I haven't found a time or date for the collision (it might have been after midnight, i.e. on 06 August).
Aircraft do sometimes hit birds, of course.

BBC News, "Drone carrying explosives found at German airport, police say", 5 August 2026, 13:48 BST, Bethany Bell https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyvlg4q48l3o:

A drone carrying an explosive device has been found at a German airport, police say.

A robot was deployed at Leipzig/Halle Airport after the device was spotted by an employee near Ukrainian cargo planes overnight, according to Saxony police. A second unidentified object also collided with a cargo aircraft near the same airport. It landed in Hanover with minor damage.
Germany's interior minister said the incidents showed a "new level of threat".

German airports are on high alert following several unauthorised drone flights in recent months over military bases, airports, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies. Police have warned of a potential Russian involvement which Moscow has denied.
Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany is used by the Germany military and Nato allies for the transport of military goods and also serves as a base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines - which carry most of the country's aerial cargo.

It is also a major hub for the logistics group, DHL.
A police spokesman told the BBC that the explosive-laden object had been spotted close to parked Antonov planes.

The detonator was removed from the explosive device. Police later carried out a controlled explosion. Flights on the northern runway resumed at 01:55 (23:55 GMT on Tuesday). The southern runway remains closed.

[Article continues, including a quote from German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.]

No description of the recovered drone was given in other articles I've read, e.g.
Reuters, "Explosive drone at German airport raises new danger, minister says", 05/08/26, Matthias Inverardi
https://www.reuters.com/world/german-police-examine-suspicious-object-leipzig-airport-2026-08-05/;
CNN, "Flying object hits plane at German airport as drone discovered carrying explosive device", 05/08/26, Sophie Tanno
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/05/europe/cargo-plane-leipzig-disruption-intl
The Independent, "Drone with explosive device found near runway at German airport", 05/08/26, Friederike Heine, Matthias Inverardi
https://www.independent.co.uk/trave...zig-halle-airport-drone-germany-b3027906.html

This might imply it wasn't in itself of a dramatic nature, e.g. not a long range machine or a type strongly associated with foreign militaries, but this is conjecture. However, in the absence of information otherwise, I'm guessing the recovered machine will turn out to be a commercially available hobby-type drone.

The Independent and Reuters reports say the struck aircraft was claimed to be a DHL cargo plane by a "source familiar with the incident".
The struck aircraft may have been preparing to land at Leipzig/Halle before being diverted, The Independent:

While air traffic was being diverted, a DHL cargo aircraft hit an unknown object as it was climbing away from the airport, prompting an unscheduled landing in Hanover, a source familiar with the incident said.

CNN,

A second, unidentified flying object, collided with a cargo plane after the aircraft aborted its landing due to the runway being closed, police said.

Reuters,

Investigators were also examining what a cargo plane had struck in the air after being diverted from the airport in eastern Germany during the disruption.
Minor damage was discovered after it landed in Hanover, authorities said. A source familiar with the incident said the plane belonged to DHL.

The Independent article also says

Several aircraft, including a passenger flight, had earlier been forced to divert to other airports after the sighting of a second, unidentified flying object, shortly before midnight on Tuesday.

It isn't specified where this second object was seen from. Finding a suspicious drone (which turned out to have an explosive package) might be sufficient reason in itself to temporarily suspend airport operations.
The other reports don't mention the sighting of another* flying object; the CNN article mentions a second flying object in connection with whatever hit the cargo plane,

A second, unidentified flying object, collided with a cargo plane after the aircraft aborted its landing due to the runway being closed, police said.

The reports have photos of EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) personnel and a couple of EOD robots.
This is an expanded detail from a photo in the BBC article, it shows an EOD man carrying something but I've no idea if it might be directly related to the drone or some part of it, but others might know.

Photo credited to Jens Schlueter/ Getty Images, BBC caption reads

A special robot was sent to remove the detonator from the device.

*The first being the drone on the ground. As far as I know it hadn't been seen in flight.