Yahoo Sports Air India replacement plane reaches San Francisco after emergency landing in Russia
A replacement plane for an Air India flight diverted to Russia because of an engine problem landed in San Francisco on Thursday, carrying all passengers and crew, the airline said.
The Boeing 777, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew members, was forced to make an emergency landing on Tuesday in Russia's Siberia due to an engine problem, leaving passengers stranded in the country's far east.
In a statement released Wednesday, Air India said Flight 173, took off from New Dehli Tuesday evening, and "developed a technical issue with one of its engines."
The plane later landed at Russia’s Magadan airport in Siberia. The airport is in a port town located on the Sea of Okhotsk.
No injuries reported, passengers being provided support in Siberia
No injuries were reported by the airline.
After safely landing, the statement said, the plane underwent safety checks and the passengers were provided support on the ground.
Information from the tracking site FlightAware.com showed the plane took off at 5 p.m. local time was slated to land in San Francisco International Airport at 8:05 p.m (CT).
On Wednesday morning, the airline said a replacement plane took off from Mumbai to Magadan so that the stranded passengers could continue their travel to the U.S.
"The ferry flight is carrying essentials in addition to sufficient amount of food to cater to all passengers on the onward flight scheduled from GDX to San Francisco," the airline said Wednesday.
The replacement plane arrived in San Francisco at 12:07 a.m. Thursday local time, according to Flight Aware.
The airline also said it would fully refund passengers’ fares and provide them with vouchers for future travel on Air India.
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How many American citizens were on the flight?
Vedant Patel, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said fewer than 50 American citizens were on the plane and the department was not aware of any of them reaching out to the U.S. Embassy in Russia or other diplomatic posts.
UPDATE: DEDICATED CUSTOMER HOTLINE SET UP
To facilitate quicker updates to those concerned about passengers in Magadan, Air India has activated a dedicated, round-the-clock hotline: +91 124 264 1427.— Air India (@airindia) June 7, 2023
Girvaan Kaahma, 16, was traveling on the flight with his uncle and brother, the Associated Press reported. The teen told the outlet he and his fellow passengers are forbidden from leaving the Magadan hostel they were staying in and could not use their credit cards "to buy items from the vending machine" due to sanctions over Russia's war on Ukraine.
The airline activated a "round-the-clock" hotline Wednesday morning for those concerned about passengers: +91 124 264 1427.
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AP Writer Jerome Minerva contributed from the U.S and Krutika Pathi from New Delhi.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Air India flight passengers diverted to Russia land in San Francisco
