Stranded Air India Passengers In Russia Housed in Dormitories, Replacement Flight To Leave Shortly

The stranded passengers of the Air India Delhi-San Francisco flight, which was diverted to Madan in Russia, have been housed in dormitories, Air India said in a statement on Wednesday.

Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement on Tuesday evening. The flight, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely.

"Given the infrastructural limitations around the remote airport, we can confirm that all passengers were eventually moved to makeshift accommodations, after making sincere attempts to accommodate passengers in hotel locally with the help of local government authorities.

As we do not have any Air India staff based in the remote town of Magadan or in Russia, all ground support being provided to the passengers in the best possible in this unusual circumstance through our round the clock liaison with the Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, Ministry of External Affair, local ground handlers and the Russian authorities," a press release from Air India said.

A ferry flight is scheduled to operate to Magadan Airport in Russia from Mumbai at 1 pm today, subject to necessary regulatory clearances, which would take passengers and crew of AI173 onward to San Francisco, the airline said.

"The ferry flight would be carrying food and other essentials for our passengers. All of us at Air India is concerned about the passengers and staff and are making every effort possible to operate the ferry flight as soon as possible and to ensure the health, safety, and security of all while they wait," the statement added.

Meanwhile, a video in which stranded passengers are seen sleeping in dormitories has gone viral.

Yesterday, @AirIndia flight 173 from Delhi to San Francisco was diverted to Magadan, in rural Russia w/ over 220, mostly elderly, passengers.

Sat in plane for 6 hrs & after 18 hrs now, no word from Air India, @MEAIndia.

Here is a just taken video from a jittery passenger : pic.twitter.com/n6qymnvXrc

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) June 7, 2023

On the other hand, the United States on Tuesday 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.