Delta Airlines Lagos-Atlanta-bound Aircraft Makes Emergency Diversion To Ghana
A Delta Airlines flight en route from Lagos, Nigeria, to Atlanta, United States, was forced to make an emergency diversion to Accra, Ghana, following a fire incident in the aircraft’s oven.
According to the spokesperson for the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Michael Achimugu, on Thursday, the incident occurred on Tuesday, 23 September, affecting Flight DL055, which had departed from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
He said airline officials confirmed that while the fire was swiftly contained and posed no threat to passengers, the delay caused the crew to exceed their expected duty time, making them unable to continue the journey as scheduled.
Following the unscheduled landing in Accra, the airline initiated rebooking arrangements for stranded passengers. Some were accommodated on a Delta Accra-New York service the same evening, with further passengers rebooked on the following night’s flight.
He said, “However, some passengers were rebooked on the airline’s Accra-New York flight the same evening, and this effort was repeated on Wednesday night for additional passengers.
“Flight DL055 LOS – ATL finally departed from Accra today, 25 September 2025, at approximately 1200 hrs.”
In a related development, Delta Airlines also cancelled its inbound flight ATL-LOS (Atlanta to Lagos) for Thursday, 25 September.
Though passengers were said to have been informed in advance, “The airline provided hotel accommodations and ground transport for those who still reported to the airport.”
To mitigate the disruption, the airline rebooked 23 affected passengers on Air France, while others were scheduled to travel via British Airways, KLM, and Lufthansa.
The remaining passengers will be airlifted on Delta’s regularly scheduled flight tomorrow, 26 September, at 11:40 a.m.
He added, “Regarding today’s 25 September 2025 ATL – LOS arrival cancellation, although passengers were duly informed about the cancellation, the airline accommodated those who arrived at the airport by providing transportation to hotels as reported in the flight disruption this morning.
“Twenty-three passengers had been rebooked on Air France, while others would be airlifted on British Airways, KLM, and Lufthansa Airlines. The remaining passengers are scheduled to depart on the airline’s scheduled flight tomorrow, 26 September 2025, at 1140 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.
“Air France flight has not been cancelled as speculated, but would operate at 0130 hrs. Kindly note that I am attending meetings in Montreal, but I have had to constantly leave the hall to make calls and get feedback.
“Follow-up continues. While wishing you safe travels, do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is a further need to,” Achimugu added.
