Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state and his team reportedly escaped an aircraft mishap when the private jet they were on caught fire just before takeoff. The incident took place on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. The jet, a Bombardier Global Express 6000, belonged to billionaire businessman Chief Adedeji Adeleke, who is the father of popular singer Davido and the brother of Governor Adeleke.
The fire occurred at the airport’s domestic wing at around 9 am as the jet was preparing to depart from Lagos to Abuja. The aircraft had taxied to the end of the runway for takeoff when a loud explosion from one of the engines forced an immediate abort.
According to Sam Iwuajoku, the CEO of Executive Jets, the company that owns the hangar where the private jet was parked, the incident was caused by Foreign Object Damage (FOD), likely from a bird’s nest in one of the engines. This resulted in a high-temperature situation that led to the explosion. He mentioned that such incidents, caused by birds building nests in parked aircraft, are not uncommon in Africa.