Mid-Air Mayhem! Private Jet Loses Door Over Abuja, Businessman Kola Karim's Aircraft Under Intense Scrutiny

A private jet, a Challenger 604 with registration T7-SEI, operated by Triton Aviation, made an emergency landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday, October 15, 2026. The incident occurred shortly after take-off for Lagos when the crew reported that a main cabin door had opened mid-air. At approximately 4:20 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), about three nautical miles from the airport and climbing through 3,000-3,500 feet, the crew issued a Mayday emergency. Air traffic controllers directed the aircraft back to Abuja, where it landed safely on Runway 22 at 4:34 p.m. UTC. All nine people on board, comprising three crew members and six passengers, survived without injuries.

Following the safe landing, air traffic controllers observed that the aircraft's main entry door was entirely missing from the fuselage. Airport fire, rescue personnel, and medical teams had been placed on standby in anticipation of the emergency return. A video circulating on social media later showed farmers recovering the detached door from farmland in the Abuja area. The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) confirmed the incident, stating that investigators were deployed, and the recovered door was secured at its wreckage hangar. The NSIB has commenced a thorough investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the occurrence, including the cause of the door's detachment and the sequence of events during the flight.

The aircraft, a 21-year-old Bombardier Challenger 604 with Manufacturer Serial Number 5593, was originally built in Canada in September 2004. It is registered in San Marino and associated with Shoreline Energy International, a Nigerian energy company founded by businessman Kola Karim, who chairs the board of Shoreline Natural Resources Limited. Aircraft records indicate that Shoreline Energy International acquired the jet in May 2024, after it had been re-registered as T7-SEI in San Marino in March 2024. Its operational history includes previous registrations as N604SC in the US and VP-BJM in Bermuda for nearly two decades.

A fresh investigation by SaharaReporters, examining global aviation safety databases, uncovered a significant history of four flight-control failures suffered by this very aircraft (then registered as VP-BJM, serial number 5593) within a four-month period in 2005. These incidents are detailed in the United Kingdom Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) Report No. 1/2008. The failures primarily involved the aircraft's stabiliser trim system, which helps control pitch and reduces pilot workload.

The first incident occurred on July 12, 2005, just 113 flight hours into its service, when the stabiliser trim channel disengaged, leading to a diversion to Toulouse, France. Engineers found contamination on the motherboard of the Horizontal Stabiliser Trim Control Unit (HSTCU), which was subsequently replaced. The second failure, an uncontrolled stabiliser trim runaway, was recorded on August 18, 2005, during a final approach. On September 14, 2005, the aircraft experienced a third failure involving the stabiliser trim, autopilot pitch trim, and mach trim systems, necessitating a diversion to Beirut, Lebanon.

The fourth and most serious incident took place on November 11, 2005. While approximately eight nautical miles west of Midhurst VOR in West Sussex, England, the stabiliser trim unexpectedly moved towards an almost full nose-down position. The crew was forced to apply prolonged, heavy aft pressure on the control column to counteract the pitch. With the autopilot unable to maintain altitude and trim indication lost, the commander executed an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport. The subsequent investigation attributed these failures to contamination inside the HSTCU, caused by moisture ingress, and crucially, an installation error from the aircraft's early service life, where the unit was not properly secured in its avionics rack.

Following these critical incidents, Bombardier issued service bulletins and Transport Canada mandated airworthiness directives for the Challenger 604 fleet, including serial numbers encompassing T7-SEI, requiring inspections, cleaning, and replacement of affected HSTCUs. Despite these corrective measures, the aircraft continued operating for nearly two decades before its recent registration and acquisition. While there is currently no direct evidence linking the 2005 stabiliser trim failures to the recent main cabin door detachment, the revelation of such a significant safety record raises further questions about the aircraft's overall operational integrity and maintenance, especially amid heightened scrutiny of aviation safety in Nigeria. The NSIB's investigation is ongoing, with further updates expected.