Air India on Wednesday said its replacement flight AI-195 from Mumbai to Magadan in Russia (GDX) will fly all 232 people onward to San Francisco on June 8. The ferry flight would be carrying food and other essentials for the stranded passengers, the airline said in a statement.
It said, “Our ferry flight AI195 from Mumbai (BOM) to Magadan, Russia (GDX) is now airborne and is expected to arrive at GDX at 0630 Hours (local time) on 08 June 2023. An Air India team is on board the flight to provide any support that the passengers and staff at GDX may require. The ferry flight is carrying essentials in addition to a sufficient amount of food to cater to all passengers on the onward flight scheduled from GDX to San Francisco (SFO). The aircraft operating the ferry flight will take all passengers and crew onward to San Francisco on 08 June 2023.”
The aircraft (AI-173), operating between Delhi and San Francisco on June 6, had to land in Russia after a technical issue en route with one of its engines. The flight with 216 passengers and 16 crew was diverted to Magadan in Russia (GDX), where it safely landed.
The airline had said, “We engaged with the local authorities at GDX that extended all cooperation and support upon the flight’s arrival at GDX. Given the infrastructural limitations around the remote airport, 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.”
It had added, “As we do not have any Air India staff based in the remote town of Magadan or in Russia, all ground support being provided to the passengers is the best possible in this unusual circumstance through our round-the-clock liaison with the Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, Ministry of External Affairs (Government of India), local ground handlers, and the Russian authorities.”
US ‘Monitoring Situation’
The United States said it is closely monitoring the situation after an Air India flight bound for San Francisco made an emergency landing in Russia.
US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the government is continuing to monitor the situation.
"Likely that there are American citizens on board..", US state department on Air India Flight from Delhi to US, that had to land in Russia. pic.twitter.com/qkiSo3KDZK— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) June 7, 2023
“We are aware of a US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia and are continuing to monitor that situation closely. I’m not able to confirm how many US citizens were aboard the flight at this time,” Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.
20 People Sleep in One Room
While speaking to NDTV, one of the passengers said that there were over 230 people, many of whom were children and elderly. The passenger added that most of the food served was seafood and non-veg, which is why many had to settle for bread and soup. Additionally, they mentioned that nearly 20 people had to sleep on mattresses in one room while their luggage remained in the aircraft.
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