Farmer finds door of private jet that fell off within 3 minutes of takeoff from Nigeria’s capital, 3000 feet in the air

A private plane that was en route to Nigeria’s former capital, Lagos, had made an emergency landing after one of the aircraft's doors fell off mid-air, which was later recovered from a farmland.

This scary mishap occurred at approximately 4:20 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, in a jet operated by Lagos-based Triton Aviation shortly after takeoff from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, multiple media outlets reported, including Nigerian outlet The Punch.

The plane with registration number T7-SEI and flight identification DWC052 took off at 4.17 pm UTC. Within minutes after the takeoff, the aircraft was directed back to the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport after a crew member informed air traffic control that a door on the plane had opened.

It was “about three nautical miles from the airport, climbing through 3,000 feet, when the crew transmitted a distress call: ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,’” The Punch quoted the incident report.

It was on the ground within 14 minutes of the distress call and met by emergency crews upon arriving back at the originating airport.

During examinations, airport employees saw that the door was completely missing. No injuries were reported, and it is also unknown how many passengers were on board, per the outlets.

The missing door was reportedly recovered later on nearby farmland, according to Nigerian media outlets.

An X user shared a video of a doorless jet, claiming that it was the same as the private jet whose door was lost mid-air.


Another video shared by the same user shows a farmer pointing to a plane door.

“This is what we found as we were returning from our farm. It fell from a plane, but we don’t know much about its identity. As I am sending it to you, sir, just check it,” the man who shot the video said.

Although it is not known how this incident occurred, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has since launched an investigation to determine whether the incident was caused by a mechanical failure, a maintenance issue, or another factor, as per Nigeria-based newspaper The Guardian.