Fresh details have emerged on how a private jet lost its door while in the air, after the pilot asked a crew member to go and confirm if the door was well locked.
The fresh details are contained in the preliminary findings released on Thursday by the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, on the October 2026 incident involving the Triton Aviation aircraft.
The jet, a Challenger 604 marked T7-SEI, was operating flight DWC052 from Abuja to Lagos when the scare happened. The crew had to turn back and return to Abuja after the door came off.
The Bureau said trouble started shortly after take-off, while the aircraft was still climbing. The pilot monitoring the flight noticed that the cabin altitude was climbing too fast, at about 4,000 feet every minute.
That unusual rise made the captain suspect that the main door may not have been fully shut.
At exactly 17:19:07, the captain told the cabin crew member to go and check the door again, because the cabin altitude was rising more than normal.
But as the crew member moved closer to the door to inspect it, the door suddenly burst open and separated from the plane in the air.
The report said the captain quickly took over flying the aircraft, while the First Officer took over the duty of monitoring the flight.
About one minute later, at 17:19:20, the crew declared an emergency on radio, sending out the distress call three times: MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY.
The crew also told Abuja Radar Control that the door of the aircraft was open.
Abuja Radar Control replied at 17:19:51, saying, "Door opened copied, MAYDAY copied, confirm able to turn right now."
The jet later landed back in Abuja. The door was later found in an Abuja farmland by farmers.
How pilot's order made jet lose door mid-flight - NSIB report reveals