Air India ferry flight picks up passengers
NEW DELHI: Air India said on Friday a plane sent to pick up passengers stranded in Russia has departed for San Francisco after the previous day’s flight made an emergency landing there. An Air India airplane flying from Delhi to the West Coast city made an emergency landing in Russia after the crew detected a potential issue in the cargo hold area, its second such incident on the route in just over a year.
In a statement, Air India said a team, including crew and security personnel, were on board the ferry flight and that it had set up a dedicated hotline for anyone wanting to reach out to passengers. Many carriers, including US and European Union airlines, avoid Russian airspace following the war in Ukraine, but Air India uses that route, giving it a flying time and cost advantage on US-bound flights. The Indian embassy in Russia said on social media platform X that a team of three senior officials and an interpreter have reached Krasnoyarsk airport to assist the passengers. A US State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that about one-third of the passengers are US citizens, adding that it has been in contact with a number of passengers and their family members. The Boeing 777 aircraft, carrying 225 passengers and 19 flight crew, made a precautionary landing safely in the Russian region of Siberia at the Krasnoyarsk International Airport, the airline said in a statement. The airport said the flight’s crew had been moved to hotels, and passengers were in the international departure area, which angered some of those stranded, according to social media posts. Mayank Gupta, whose mother was on the flight, wrote on X he was “sad and angry” that her medicines and luggage remained on the airplane.—