US ‘Monitoring Situation’ After Air India Flight Diverted to Russia, Exact No. of Americans Onboard Not Known

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.

Air India flight AI173 from New Delhi was diverted to Magadan airport in Russia in the country’s far east on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the carrier said in a statement. The flight, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely.

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the government is continuing to monitor the situation.

“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,” Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.

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.

“It was a flight that was bound for the United States. So, it is, of course, likely that there are American citizens on board. There’s public reporting from Air India that they are sending – what my understanding is – a replacement aircraft to the destination to have the passengers carry on for their route, but I would defer to the air carrier to speak to anything further on this,” Patel said in response to a question.

Air India said that a reserve plane would take off from Mumbai on Wednesday for passengers stranded in Russia’s Magadan airport because of engine trouble.

The exact time of departure of the replacement aircraft is yet to be confirmed.

(With inputs from agencies)