Lagos-Atlanta-bound aircraft diverts to Ghana over fire onboard

A Delta Airlines flight en route from Lagos, Nigeria, to Atlanta, United States, was forced to make an emergency diversion to Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, September 23, following a fire incident in the aircraft’s oven.

According to Michael Achimugu, spokesperson for the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the fire was swiftly contained, and no passengers were threatened

The incident affected Flight DL055, which had departed from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The delay caused the crew to exceed their expected duty time, rendering them unable to continue the journey as scheduled.

Following the unscheduled landing in Accra, Delta Airlines initiated rebooking arrangements for stranded passengers. Some were accommodated on a Delta Accra-New York service the same evening, while others were rebooked on subsequent flights, including Air France, British Airways, KLM, and Lufthansa.

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Delta Airlines also cancelled its inbound flight ATL-LOS (Atlanta to Lagos) for Thursday, September 25.

Passengers were informed in advance, and the airline provided hotel accommodations and ground transport for those who reported to the airport.

The remaining passengers are scheduled to depart on Delta’s regularly scheduled flight on September 26, 2025, at 11:40 hrs.

Contrary to earlier reports, the Air France flight from Lagos has not been cancelled and is expected to operate at 01:30 a.m. on September 26, 2025.

Michael Achimugu assured that follow-up continues and urged passengers to reach out if further assistance is needed.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.