A ferry flight will depart from Mumbai at 1 pm on Wednesday for Russia’s Magadan to take stranded Air India passengers to San Francisco, Air India said in a statement.
This development comes after an Air India flight which was headed to San Francisco from New Delhi, was diverted to Magadan on Tuesday after a technical issue with one of its engines. The ferry flight will also carry food and other essentials for the passengers.
In a statement, Air India, said, “A ferry flight is scheduled to operate to GDX from Mumbai, India (BOM) at 1300 Hours IST on 07 June 2023, subject to necessary regulatory clearances, which would take passengers and crew of AI173 onward to San Francisco.”
The flight with 216 passengers and 16 crew was diverted to Magadan, Russia (GDX), where it landed safely.
“All of us at Air India are 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 air carrier company’s statement added.
Air India said in a statement that it engaged with the local authorities at Magadan airport that extended all cooperation and support upon the flight’s arrival.
“We can confirm that all passengers were eventually moved to a makeshift accommodation, after making sincere attempts to accommodate passengers in hotels locally with the help of local government authorities,” Air India statement added.
As Air India does not have any staff based in the remote town of Magadan or in Russia, all ground support being provided to the passengers through its liaison with the Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, Ministry of External Affairs (Government of India), local ground handlers, and the Russian authorities.
Earlier, the United States also said that it is continuing to closely monitor the situation of the flight divert incident.
Principal Deputy Spokesperson, for the US Department of State, Vedant Patel has said that the department is aware of the US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia on Tuesday.
Addressing a press briefing here, Patel said, “I’m not able to confirm how many US citizens were aboard the flight at this time. It was a flight that was bound for the United States. So, it is, of course, likely that there are American citizens on board.”