WorldStage– Nigeria escaped what would have become another aviation tragedy on Thursday afternoon at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after a Bombardier Challenger 600-series (CL60) private jet, operated by Triton Aviation, lost one of its doors mid-air shortly after takeoff, triggering an immediate emergency response.
It will be recalled that the country is yet to recover from the crash of a military aircraft in Ondo State last week in which all the crew members and passengers died.
Thursday serious aviation incident involved an aircraft with registration number T7-SEI and flight identification DWC052.
The luxury business jet was en route to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos when the mid-air scare occurred.
According to official incident reports, the flight departed Abuja’s Runway 22 at exactly 4:17 p.m. UTC. Barely three minutes later, at 4:20 p.m., while the aircraft was climbing through 3,000 feet and positioned roughly three nautical miles from the airport, the crew experienced a sudden structural failure as a fuselage door blew open and detached entirely.
Faced with rapid decompression and severe aerodynamic instability, the flight crew immediately transmitted a frantic distress call to Air Traffic Control: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.”
The approach radar controller acted swiftly, clearing the airspace and directing the crippled aircraft back to Abuja for an immediate emergency landing.
On the ground, airport authorities activated a full-scale emergency protocol. Airport fire and rescue personnel, alongside specialized medical teams, were placed on high alert and lined up on the tarmac as the plane approached.
With the swift response of air traffic controllers and the piloting crew’s expertise, the jet landed safely at approximately 4:34 p.m. UTC, just 14 minutes after the initial distress call was placed.
No casualties or injuries were reported among the passengers or crew.
Following the landing, ground control officially confirmed that the door was completely missing from the aircraft’s fuselage.
Meanwhile, a viral video emerged on social media showing that the missing aircraft door had been recovered.
Local farmers on the outskirts of Abuja discovered the heavy aircraft component sitting in the middle of a farm while returning from their day’s work.Aviation authorities are expected to launch a comprehensive investigation into Triton Aviation’s maintenance logs and the aircraft’s locking mechanisms to determine how a pressurized cabin door could fail so catastrophically during takeoff.
