US-Bound Air India Flight Diverted To Russia: The United States is “closely monitoring” the Air India flight that had to be diverted to Russia following a technical glitch. Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch. All the passengers onboard, including the crew members, have landed safely, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement last evening.
“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,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.
“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,” Mr Patel said in response to a question.
(With inputs from PTI)
