The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has opened an investigation into the mid-air separation of a door from a Challenger 604 aircraft shortly after it departed Abuja for Lagos on Friday.
NSIB’s Director-General Capt. Alex Badeh made this known in a signed the statement.
According to the bureau, the aircraft, operated by Triton and registered T7-SEI, was about three nautical miles from Abuja while climbing through 3,500 feet when its crew declared a mayday after the door separated.
The crew subsequently turned the aircraft back towards Abuja and landed safely on Runway 22 at 4:34 p.m. UTC.
There were nine people on board , three crew members and six passengers. No injuries were reported in the statement issued by the Bureau.
The incident has now shifted attention to the condition of the aircraft and the circumstances that led to the door separating during the early stage of the flight.
NSIB said the detached door has been recovered and secured at its wreckage hangar as investigators begin examining the occurrence.
“The Bureau has commenced its investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the occurrence,” the NSIB said.
The agency stressed that further information would be released as the investigation progresses.
The incident comes under the mandate of the NSIB, which investigates aircraft accidents and serious incidents to establish contributing factors and make safety recommendations, rather than apportion blame.
The aircraft had departed Abuja at 4:12 p.m. UTC and was only minutes into its flight when the emergency was declared.
The safe return of the aircraft means investigators will now be able to examine the recovered door and other relevant aircraft components as they seek to determine what caused the separation.
