Air India flight bound for San Francisco diverted to Russia over technical issue

By Chris Liakos, Tara John, Michael Conte and Uliana Pavlova | CNN

An Air India flight from India to San Francisco was diverted due to a technical issue with one of the plane’s engines and has landed safely in Russia’s Magadan airport, in the country’s far east, according to a statement from the carrier.

Flight AI173 was carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew. The airline will operate an alternate flight carrying everyone from Magadan to San Francisco on Wednesday.

In a statement Wednesday, Air India said a “ferry flight” is scheduled to take off from Mumbai airport at 3.30 a.m. eastern time and will travel to Magadan to take the passengers to San Francisco subject to “necessary clearances.”

It added: “All of us at Air India are concerned about the passengers and staff and are making every effort possible to operate the ferry flight as soon as possible, and to ensure the health, safety and security of all while they wait.”

There are no Air India staff in the remote town of Magadan, the airline said, adding support is being provided to the passengers through “round-the-clock liaison” with the Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, a city about 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) south of Magadan, as well as India’s Ministry of External Affairs, local ground handlers and Russian authorities.

Russia has banned numerous western countries from operating in its airspace, though some carriers like Air India continue to fly over Russia.

The United States said it was monitoring the situation. “We are aware of a US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia, and are continuing to monitor that situation closely,” said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.

While Patel could not confirm how many US citizens were on the flight, he said it was “of course likely that there are American citizens on board.”

Patel also said it would be possible if needed for the US to take steps “in assessing manifests and passengers who may be bound for the United States.”

Patel would not say if the US would need to exempt any replacement parts for the plane from sanctions on Russia.

Air India’s CEO defended its use of Russian airspace on Monday, telling an airline summit that “we operate in the accordance within the ambit of what’s provided to us by the nation of India.”

He added: “Not all nations agree. And so there are going to be different outcomes as a consequence. I think we’ve seen over the past few years the consequence of aviation not being able to connect people and economies and cultures and support all of the other things that we spin off.”

Meanwhile, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Monday predicted possible dangers of a plane being forced to land in Russia with American citizens on board while speaking to reporters, Reuters reported.

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