Tuesday, June 06, 2023

US-bound Air India passengers face tense wait after landing in Russia

Hundreds of passengers and crew on an Air India flight from New Delhi to San Francisco face a tense wait to complete their flight after an engine problem forced them to land in the far east of Russia.

The emergency landing at Magadan, on the Sea of Okhotsk, raises questions about how Russian authorities will treat the Boeing 777 aircraft and its GE Aerospace engines, as well as any people among the 216 passengers and 16 crew carrying passports from countries seen as hostile to Russia.

The US State Department said it could not confirm if any American citizens were on board the service, adding that it was “monitoring the situation closely”. However, given the flight’s destination, there are almost certain to be many.

Air India said it would send an alternative aircraft to allow passengers to complete the journey from Magadan to San Francisco on Wednesday.

“The authorities are extending all co-operation in our effort to ensure that passengers safely reach their destination at the earliest,” the airline said.

The carrier had earlier said the flight, numbered AI173, had developed a “technical issue” with one of its engines.

“The flight with 216 passengers and 16 crew was diverted and landed safely in Magadan airport in Russia,” Air India said.

It is unclear whether engineers from either Boeing or GE — both US companies — would be allowed to travel to Russia to service the aircraft, given US sanctions against the country following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After the imposition of sanctions, Russia has seized scores of western-owned chartered aircraft that were under Russian operators’ control.

06/06/2023 Robert Wright and Sylvia Pfeifer in London, John Reed in New Delhi and Felicia Schwartz/Financial Times

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