Magadan is more than 10,000 km from the Russian capital Moscow.
New Delhi:
A relief aircraft will leave from Mumbai at 1 pm for Russia’s Magadan to take the stranded Air India passengers to San Francisco, the Civil Aviation Ministry announced today. An Air India flight bound for San Francisco from New Delhi, was diverted to Magadan on Tuesday after it developed an engine issue.
A replacement aircraft bound for Russia’s Magadan was delayed on Wednesday to fly the stranded passengers while Air India officials worked on regulatory issues to operate the flight.
NDTV has learned that some stranded Air India passengers in remote Magadan, more than 10,000 km from the Russian capital Moscow, are being housed in dormitories because hotels in the area cannot accommodate everyone on the flight.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said today it was closely monitoring developments in the remote Russian city.
“Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is closely monitoring the situation. We are in touch with the airline,” said a statement from the ministry.
“Air India is sending a relief aircraft B777-200LR VT-ALF as a ferry with men and material on board for the recovery of VT-ALH. The aircraft VT-ALF will transport passengers from Magadan to San Francisco International Airport The provisional departure of VT -ALF from Mumbai is today at 1 pm IST.
“Air India has informed us that they are taking care of the passengers – the local government is helping with accommodation. The passengers have been shifted to a school near the airport. The Indian embassy has also been contacted to provide food and important things.”
Air India’s flights to the US West Coast while flying east over the Pacific Ocean give the carrier a huge advantage over other airlines that currently cannot operate in Russian airspace. However, this comes with its own set of challenges, which Air India is well aware of.
Emergency or precautionary landings at remote airports in Russia with more than 200 passengers on board its Boeing 777-200LR aircraft is a situation that Air India’s management knows is potentially problematic – the available Infrastructure on the ground is a big concern.
Meanwhile, the United States said it was “closely monitoring” the situation.
“We are aware of a US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia and continue to monitor that situation closely. I cannot confirm how many US citizens were on board the flight at this time,” US State said. by the Deputy Spokesperson of the Department, Vedant Patel.
“This is a flight bound for the United States. So, of course, there are likely to be American citizens on board. There is public reporting from Air India that they are sending – from what I understand – a replacement aircraft to the destination for the passengers to continue for their route, but I will defer to the air carrier to speak further on this,” added Mr Patel.
The Air India plane was carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew members.
