Governor Adeleke Private Jet Catches Fire During Take-Off

Governor Adeleke Private Jet has caught fire.

Newsone reports that a private jet owned by billionaire businessman, Chief Adedeji Adeleke, caught fire at the take-off point at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial city.

This online news platform understands 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 explosion was heard from the engine of the jet, causing it to abort take-off immediately.

A report monitored on Leadership Online by Newsone Nigeria, says Governor Adeleke Private Jet fire incident happened at the domestic wing of the Airport at about 9 a.m., on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, when the jet was about to take off from Lagos to Abuja.

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

“No deaths or injuries 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 revealed.

Meanwhile, Newsone Nigeria understands that Chief Adeleke owns the Bombadier Global Express 6000 involved in the incident. The jet is used as a family plane by the Adelekes.

Chief Adeleke is the father of popular Nigerian Afrobeat musician, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido. He is also the brother of Osun State governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

The report says that the jet had been parked at the Executive Jet hanger of the Airport before it was deployed on September 5 when the fire incident occurred.

Multiple sources confided in LEADERSHIP that even though there were no injuries or deaths 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.

One of the passengers on the plane, who spoke with the platform on condition of anonymity said foul play was being suspected from the hangar operators as both engines of the aircraft were damaged but the chief executive officer (CEO), Executive Jets, owner of the hangar where the private jet was parked, Sam Iwuajoku, disclosed that Chief Adeleke’s private jet had Foreign Object Damage (FOD) that made the aircraft experience high temperature, which resulted into the explosion.

According to the owner of the hangar where the private jet was parked, the FOD was caused by a bird nest in one of the engines of the jet.

He said, “At take-off, the engine had a high temperature and it was caused by a bird nest in one of the engines of the aircraft. It happens 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 temperatures.

“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.”