MANCHESTER UNITED were involved in a terrifying near-miss as their plane attempted to land in Germany yesterday.

United’s Monarch Airbus 321 charter flight had to abort its landing at Cologne Airport just 400 metres from touchdown when their pilot spotted another plane on the runway.

He pulled the plane up sharply and then circled the airport before being able to land safely 10 minutes later with the players then proceeding to their hotels ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

An eye-witness said: “It was quite frightening.

We were coming into land when we had to pull up suddenly because it appears there was a plane on the runway.

“The captain came on the intercom to apologise then we landed safely.”

Rio Ferdinand tweeted: “Landed in Germany… just…. I’ve only just recovered after that choppy landing.”

United’s scare came a day after the death of Bill Foulkes.

He survived the Munich air tragedy which killed 23 passengers, including eight players, as United returned home from a European Cup tie in Belgrade in 1958.

The crash was reminiscent of the 1958 Munich air tragedy, pictured, that killed 23 passengers [GETTY]

According to Dailystar