Air India: Air India's second aircraft arrived to pick up passengers stranded in Russia, flew to San Francisco
Air India tweeted on Thursday that Air India flight AI173D departed from Magadan to San Francisco at 10.27 am local time on June 8 and is expected to reach San Francisco airport by 12.15 am.
Passengers of an Air India flight stranded in Russia on Thursday left for San Francisco via another flight of the airline. Significantly, due to a technical fault, Air India's Delhi-San Francisco flight had to make an emergency landing at Russia's Magadan airport on Tuesday. Since then 216 passengers and 16 crew members were stranded in Russia. Air India had dispatched a ferry flight on Wednesday itself to take them to their destination.
Air India tweeted on Thursday that Air India flight AI173D departed from Magadan to San Francisco at 10.27 am local time on June 8 and is expected to reach San Francisco airport by 12.15 am. Air India has placed additional help at the San Francisco airport to expedite the departure of passengers so that the clearance formalities of all passengers on arrival are completed at the earliest, the airline said.
In the same tweet, it was said that the team present at San Francisco Airport is ready to help the passengers in every way. Not only for medical care, but also for their transportation needs and follow-up support.
The emergency landing was due to engine failure
Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi-San Francisco flight AI-173 216 was diverted to Magadan airport after one of its engines developed a mid-air problem. After this, emergency landing was done at Magadan Airport in Russia.
Magadan is located in north-eastern Russia on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and is the administrative center of Magadan Oblast. The port city of Magadan is located at a distance of about 10,167 kilometers from Moscow. It takes approximately seven hours 37 minutes to reach Magadan from Moscow by air.
Air India had made arrangements for the passengers to stay
Air India had earlier said in its statement that all passengers and crew members have been 'arranged for hotel accommodation'. But on Wednesday it said it was forced to put them in temporary accommodation due to 'infrastructure constraints'.
Indians stranded in Russia face shortage of medicines and food items
Indians stranded in Russia faced shortage of medicines and food items overnight. Air India has no ground staff where Indians are stranded in Russia. Due to which the passengers had to face difficulties. Several videos are going viral on social media in which some passengers are seen sleeping on mattresses on the ground. They also faced difficulty in talking to the local administration due to language barriers.