The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) is trying to find out how a Bombardier Challenger 604 lost a cabin door shortly after takeoff from the capital Abuja on October 15. The jet, with nine people on board for a flight to Lagos, landed safely at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (DNAA).
The 22-year-old Challenger (T7-SEI) appears to be registered in San Marino to Empire Aviation, and operated by Triton Aviation. Neither company has yet responded to requests by AIN to provide more details about the incident.
According to FlightRadar24 the aircraft climbed to just over 3,800 feet before the crew lined up to land back at Abuja on runway 22. There were three crew and six passengers on board the flight, which took off just after 5 pm local time.
In a statement, NSIB director general Alex Badeh said that the missing door had been recovered by investigators at a nearby farm. According Nigerian media reports, the crew initiated the emergency landing after asking air traffic controllers to visually confirm whether the door was still attached to the aircraft.