New Delhi: Air India Delhi-San Francisco non-stop flight on Tuesday made a safe landing in Magadan, Russia, after one of the Boeing 777’s engines developed a snag. The aircraft (VT-ALH), with 232 people on board, had taken off from IGI Airport at 4 am on Tuesday. The plane “developed a technical issue with one of its engines.”
“Air India will operate an alternate aircraft from Magadan to San Francisco on June 7, carrying all passengers and crew, who are at present accommodated in local hotels in Magadan. The authorities are extending all cooperation in our effort to ensure that passengers safely reach their destination at the earliest,” an AI official said.
US says closely monitoring situation
The United States said it is closely monitoring the situation after a San Francisco-bound Air India flight made an emergency landing in Russia.
“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. I’m not able to confirm how many US citizens were aboard the flight at this time,” state department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.
“It was a flight that was bound for the United States. So, it is, of course, likely that there are American citizens on board. There’s public reporting from Air India that they are sending – what my understanding is – a replacement aircraft to the destination to have the passengers carry on for their route, but I would defer to the air carrier to speak to anything further on this,” Patel said in response to a question.
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