An Air India plane flying from New Delhi to San Francisco landed in Russia after it developed an engine problem, officials said on Wednesday.
The plane, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew members, landed safely at Russia’s Magadan airport in the country’s far east on Tuesday, Air India said in a statement.
The flight "developed a technical issue with one of its engines,” the statement said, adding that the aircraft was undergoing safety checks and the passengers were being provided support on the ground.
Vedant Patel, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said that American citizens were likely on the flight but could not immediately confirm how many. He said his understanding was that Air India would be sending a replacement aircraft to Russia so the passengers could continue their travel to the U.S.
"We are continuing to monitor the situation,” Patel said.
The airline said a plane from Mumbai, flight AI195, was expected to arrive in Magadan at 6:30 a.m. Thursday local time.
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Girvaan Kaahma, 16, was traveling on the flight with his uncle and brother. He said they are barred from leaving the hostel where they are staying in Magadan and can’t use their credit cards to buy items from the vending machine because of sanctions over Russia's war on Ukraine.
Several people in the Bay Area are speaking out on social media, concerned about what is happening with the flight and their loved ones.
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“When I spoke to her a couple of hours ago, I think lunch was there,” said Guarav Mehta of San Jose.
He’s worried about his mom who seems to be OK for now, but he hopes the journey home is not delayed too long.
“It’s going to be difficult, because she’s been out of her house for a while now, for 24 hours, and you add another 48 hours to it, that becomes 72 hours,” said Mehta. “Being out on the road for 72 hours is not easy in general – and for someone who is 68 it’s even harder.”
Richa Verma of River Islands said her parents were among the passengers. They told her they were being housed at a Russian school and sleeping on cots.
“They made arrangements for mattresses and blankets,” Verma told NBC Bay Area in a phone interview. “Made them comfortable and they are having food, tea, and yeah, they are safe.”
Some families said they worried their loved ones could get tangled up in Russia's war with Ukraine. But when they saw that the flight path of the diversion took them far from the Ukraine border on the west, to the eastern corner of Russia, there was some relief. There was also concern that Russia could try to hold passengers with U.S. citizenship due to worsening relations between Washington and Moscow.
NBC Bay Area aviation expert Mike McCarron said they shouldn’t be too worried about Russia interfering with the passengers' safe return because India is one of Russia's largest trading partners right now.
Mike McCarron, a spokesman for San Francisco International Airport spokesman and aviation expert, said families shouldn’t be too worried about Russia interfering with the passengers' safe return because the airline is based out of India, one of Russia's largest trading partners right now.
“They probably want to lay low and let the plane go on and divert as normal, and let it go on as soon as it can, because they don’t want lose a trading partner right now that is as viable as India,” said McCarron.
The U.S. State Department has also been monitoring Russia's response and Air India's efforts to get the passengers back to San Francisco.
“They are sending, what my understanding is, a replacement aircraft to the destination to have the passengers carry on,” said Patel.
The Air India counter at SFO was still very busy Tuesday night as it is one of the only airlines flying directly to India and over Russian airspace.
Two families said they still feel safe flying over Russia to India to visit family after what happened Tuesday.
The last word from the U.S. embassy to concerned families is that the passengers will likely be flown back to India and then they will board another flight to San Francisco, but as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, they have not received any flight times yet.
Their best guess is that their loved ones won’t be back to SFO until very late Wednesday or sometime Thursday.
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Associated Press Writer Jerome Minerva contributed from the U.S and Krutika Pathi from New Delhi.
