Aircraft loses door at 3,000 feet, makes emergency landing in Abuja
An aircraft operated by Triton Aviation on Thursday made an emergency landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after losing a door shortly after take-off.
The CL60 aircraft, with registration number T7-SEI and flight identification DWC052, was heading to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, when the incident occurred at about 4:20 p.m.
According to an incident report, the aircraft took off from Runway 22 at 4:17 p.m. and was about three nautical miles from the airport, climbing through 3,000 feet, when the crew declared an emergency by transmitting a “Mayday” distress call.
The crew reportedly informed air traffic controllers that a door had opened in flight, prompting instructions for the aircraft to return to Abuja. Airport fire and medical teams were alerted and placed on standby ahead of its arrival.
The aircraft landed safely on Runway 22 at about 4:34 p.m., approximately 14 minutes after the distress call. Following the landing, the duty controller observed that the door was missing from the fuselage.
Meanwhile, a video obtained by The Guardian showed what appeared to be the missing door found by farmers on a farmland in Abuja. A man in the video said they discovered it while returning from their farm but could not identify the aircraft to which it belonged.
The number of passengers on board was not immediately known, while efforts to reach Triton Aviation for comments were unsuccessful.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Michael Achimugu, confirmed the incident but said the matter fell under the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB). The bureau also confirmed the incident, saying investigators had been deployed to establish the circumstances surrounding it.
