Air India Sends Reserve Plane To Magadan For Passengers Stranded After Engine Issue In Russia

Air India said on Wednesday that a reserve plane would set off from Mumbai on Wednesday for passengers whose flight had to land in Russia's Far East on Tuesday due to engine issues.

During a flight from Delhi to San Francisco, one of the airline's Boeing (BA.N) 777 widebody aircraft suffered a technical issue with one of its engines. The airline announced that its ferry flight would depart Mumbai at 0730 GMT and travel to Magadan, Russia, delivering food and other necessities for the passengers who were stuck there.

A reserve Air India plane was expected to land at 0300 GMT, according to the Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia.

Gagan, a stranded passenger, informed Indian broadcaster NDTV that there were numerous U.S. citizens on the flight, and considering the ongoing tensions between Russia and the United States, he mentioned that "there are a lot of nervous people here." At the time, Air India had not provided any immediate response regarding the nationalities of the passengers upon request.

The United States State Department's deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, stated on Tuesday that given the vessel's intended destination, it is likely that there are American citizens on board.

"We are aware of a U.S.-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia and are continuing to monitor that situation closely," Patel said.

The airline stated that it has relocated passengers to improvised lodgings due to infrastructure constraints at the airport.