Stuck in small Russian town ‘makeshift’ stay; Air India alternate aircraft to leave Mumbai at 1 pm | India News
Being a small port city in Russia’s far east, Magdan has no major hotels and all 232 people have been living in makeshift accommodation. The US is also closely monitoring the situation as a number of American citizens are also believed to have flown this aircraft and are currently in Magdan. The concerns arise from the currently strained relations between the west and Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Given the limited infrastructure around the remote airport, we can confirm that all passengers were eventually moved to emergency accommodation, after making genuine efforts to accommodate passengers in local hotels with the assistance of local government authorities. As we do not have Air India staff based in the remote city of Magadan or in Russia, all ground support provided to passengers is top notch in these unusual circumstances through our round the clock relationships with Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, local ground handlers and Russian authorities,” AI said in a statement.
Vedant Patel, chief deputy spokesperson at the US state department told a media briefing: “We are aware of a US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia. We continue to monitor the situation. I can’t say how many US citizens were on that flight… It looks like there were American citizens on board. AI is sending replacement planes to (Magdan) to take passengers to their destinations.”
A ferry flight is scheduled to operate to Magdan from Mumbai at 1 p.m. (IST) on June 7, “subject to necessary regulatory clearances”, which will carry Al-173 passengers and crew to San Francisco. “The ferry flights will carry food and other essentials for our passengers. All of us at Air India are concerned about the passengers and staff and are making every effort possible to operate the ferry flights as soon as possible, and to ensure the health, safety and security of everyone while they wait,” added the AI statement.
Air India’s non-stop Delhi-San Francisco (SFO) on Tuesday made a safe landing in Magadan, Russia, after one of its Boeing 777 engines encountered problems en route. The aircraft (VT-ALH) with 232 people on board took off from IGI Airport at 4am Tuesday.
Unlike western airlines, AI crosses Russian airspace — even though its Moscow flights were suspended last year — while operating between India, mainly Delhi, and North America.
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Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco flight lands in Russia after an engine jammed
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