Just a day after an American carrier predicted a scenario where American jets could land in Russia due to technical glitches or other reasons, an Air India flight bound for San Francisco was diverted due to a technical issue with one of the plane’s engines and has safely landed in Russia’s Magadan, which is in the country’s far east.
Flight AI173 was carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew. Air India has said that a ‘ferry flight’ was being scheduled to take off from Mumbai airport at 3.30 am Eastern time and will travel to Magadan to take the passengers to San Francisco following necessary clearances.
Incidentally, there is no Air India staff in Magadan, and support was being provided round-the-clock via the Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, which is 5000 km south of Magadan. The external affairs ministry, local ground staff, and Russian authorities are working in coordination to monitor the situation.
For the unversed, Russia has banned numerous Western countries from flying across its air space, though Air India continues to fly over Russia. Meanwhile, the United States is also closely monitoring the situation as there could be American citizens on board. State Dept spokesperson Vedant Patel has said that the US would take the needed steps to help passengers who are bound for the US.
The incident occurred at a time when there was an ongoing debate about the use of Russian airspace by some carriers. India has maintained that due to disagreements between nations, aviation was not able to connect people and economies, and cultures.
Meanwhile, United Airlines CEO spoke to the media about the possible dangers of a plane being force-landed in Russia with American citizens on board.
