A Delta Airlines flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to Atlanta, United States, was forced to divert to Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, September 23, after a fire broke out in the aircraft’s oven.
According to Michael Achimugu, spokesperson for the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the situation was quickly brought under control and “no passengers were threatened.”
The incident involved Flight DL055, which had departed from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. However, the diversion and delay caused the crew to exceed their maximum duty hours, preventing them from continuing the journey as planned.
Following the unscheduled landing in Accra, Delta Airlines arranged rebooking for stranded passengers. Some were placed on the airline’s Accra–New York service the same evening, while others were rebooked on partner airlines, including Air France, British Airways, KLM, and Lufthansa.
Delta also cancelled its inbound flight ATL–LOS (Atlanta to Lagos) scheduled for Thursday, September 25. Passengers were notified in advance, with the airline providing hotel accommodation and ground transport for those who had already reported to the airport.
The remaining passengers are expected to travel on Delta’s regularly scheduled service on September 26, 2025, at 11:40 a.m.
Contrary to speculation, the Air France Lagos–Paris flight has not been cancelled and will operate at 01:30 a.m. on September 26, 2025.
Achimugu assured that the NCAA was closely monitoring the situation and urged passengers to reach out for further assistance if necessary.