Air India's replacement flight takes off from Russia for San Francisco
The San Francisco bound flight which was made to land in Russia due to technical glitch, began its returning flight to San Francisco, said Air India
PremiumTwo days after the emergency landing of a San-Francisco bound Air India flight in Russia, its replacement flight took off for San Fransisco on Wednesday. Air India sent the replacement flight on Wednesday for 232 passengers who were stuck in Russia's Magadan port city.
After finding a technical glitch in the aeroplane, the Air India flight was diverted to Russia's Far East. The engine trouble in Boeing 777 plane could have led to a major mishap, which was averted by the emergency landing.
The flight is expected to arrive at San Francisco at 12:15 am PDT (0715 GMT) on Thursday, Air India tweeted.
To ensure passenger convenience at the airport, Air India has mobilised additional support at San Francisco airport for clearance formalities.
The aircraft was sent on Wednesday to pick up passengers who were travelling from Delhi to San Francisco. The flight was diverted to Russia's Siberia after engine trouble in Boeing 777 plane. In the plane, a total of 216 passengers were travelling to America with 16 crew members.
Given the tensed-relation between America and Russia, US Departmen spokesperson Vedant Patel said that fewer than 50 American citizen were on the plane and there was no information about them reaching out to the US Embassy in Russia or other diplomatic posts.
Due to the harsh weather of Siberia and limitations of resources, many of the Air India passengers had to face issues related to food, accomodation, cleanliness, etc. Many of the travellers were not even able to use their credit cards because of sanctions over Russia's war on Ukraine, reported Bloomberg.
Most of the passengers were accommodated inside school buildings, college hostels and other places. Despite the lack of facilities, passengers said that the Russian authorities, police and other officials treated them very well.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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