Germanwings plane diverted to Stuttgart due to suspected oil loss

Frankfurt: A Germanwings flight to Venice was diverted to Stuttgart on Saturday as the Airbus A319 aircraft appeared to be losing oil, the airline said in a statement.

Germanwings flight 4U814, with 123 passengers and five crew members on board, took off from Cologne at 9.55 am local time (0755 GMT).

Germanwings said the pilots shut off one of the aircraft's engines and headed for Stuttgart when the problem was detected.

"This is a standard safety procedure. It was not an emergency landing," it said, adding the aircraft was being examined by technicians.

Germanwings, a budget unit of German airline Lufthansa, has been in the spotlight after one of its planes crashed into a mountain in the French Alps last week, killing everyone on board.