Substitute airplane for Air India flight lands in San Francisco after being diverted to Russia
By ASHOK SHARMA | Related Press
NEW DELHI — A alternative airplane for an Air India flight diverted to Russia due to an engine drawback landed in San Francisco on Thursday, carrying all passengers and crew, the airline mentioned.
The unique Boeing 777, which left New Delhi carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew members, landed at Magadan airport in Siberia in Russia’s far east on Tuesday.
The unique airplane indicated it had low oil strain in a single engine and “out of warning (the pilots) elected to land the plane at a close-by airport fairly than proceed the journey,” the airline mentioned in an announcement.
The alternative airplane arrived in San Francisco at 12:07 a.m. Thursday native time, based on the web site Flight Conscious.
The airline additionally mentioned it might totally refund passengers’ fares and supply them with vouchers for future journey on Air India.
In Washington, U.S. State Division spokesperson Vedant Patel mentioned fewer than 50 Americans have been on the airplane and the division was not conscious of any of them reaching out to the U.S. Embassy in Russia or different diplomatic posts.
Passenger Girvaan Singh Kahma, 16, who was touring along with his uncle and brother, mentioned they have been barred from leaving the hostel in Magadan and have been unable to make use of their bank cards due to sanctions over Russia’s warfare on Ukraine.
“The primary day and a half was actually onerous for all of us,” he mentioned. “The climate went to three to 4 levels (Celsius) within the morning, and within the evening it was bitter chilly,” he mentioned, including that it was getting higher with meals and a spot to sleep.
“The Russian troopers, the Russian police, the authorities, everybody working within the hostel has been treating us extraordinarily effectively,” he mentioned.
