Manchester United plane in landing scare at German airport prior to Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen

The pilot had to abort a landing

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that the current Premier League table will count for nothing when May comes around (GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United’s players and staff had an unnerving experience last night as their aircraft had to abort landing at Cologne Airport when the pilot realised there was another plane already on the runway.

United were an estimated 400 metres from the ground when the incident occurred. The pilot came onto the intercom to explain what happened and apologise. Rio Ferdinand tweeted "Landed in Germany....just....I've only just recovered after that choppy landing! #TouchedCloth !! #mufc". A passenger said “It was quite frightening, we were coming into land when we had to pull up suddenly”. The plane, an Airbus 321, landed safely 10 minutes later.

There is always a sensitivity about United and flying incidents because of the Munich tragedy in 1958 when eight players died along with staff and media. United will wear black armbands tonight in honour of Bill Foulkes, the Munich survivor, who died on Monday.

Rio Ferdinand expressed his relieve at the eventual safe landing via Twitter (Twitter/@rioferdy5)