Gov. Adeleke and aides reportedly escape air cr@§h. Hanger owner says bird nest caused it

By a stroke of luck, what could have been a national tragedy was averted on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 when a private jet owned by billionaire businessman, Chief Adedeji Adeleke, caught fire at take-off point at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

According to Leadership, the incident happened at the domestic wing of the Airport at about 9am on the fateful day when the jet was about to take off from Lagos to Abuja.

However, the incident wasn’t formally communicated to the concerned Aviation regulatory authorities, a development that is against standard protocol.

Reports indicated that the jet, with Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, on board and his top aides at the time of the incident, had taxied to the end of the runway, shortly before departure, when a loud explo§ion was heard from the engine of the jet, causing it to abort take-off immediately.

“No d£aths or inj¥ries were reported, and other passengers in the plane as of the time of the incident could not be ascertained,” a source privy to the development told Leadership.

Multiple sources confided in Leadership that even though there were no inj¥ries or d£aths recorded from the incident, however, all parties including the

Airport authorities, the Osun State government and the owners of the private hanger have been desperate to ensure that the news of the incident doesn’t get to the public domain.

The chief executive officer (CEO), Executive Jets, owners of the hangar where the private jet was parked, Sam Iwuajoku, disclosed that the Chief Adeleke’s private jet had Foreign Object Damage (FOD) that made the aircraft experience high temperature, which resulted in the explogion.

According to him, the FOD was caused by a bird nest in one of the engines of the jet.

“At take-off, the engine had high temperature and it was caused by bird nest in one of the engines of the aircraft. It happened when an aircraft is parked and not properly covered so, birds will build their nest and anything they bring into the aircraft can spark high temperature.

It happened to one of my aircraft in 2021, we had to remove the engine and the engine was in Germany for 14 months. So, it’s a common thing in Africa because we have birds around,” he stated.

A source, who craved anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak on the matter, said: “NCAA isn’t aware of this incident because the Air Worthiness Department is not aware.”