Air India says it is “concerned” about the plight of 225 passengers and 19 crew members who were onboard a San Francisco-bound plane that was forced to make an emergency diversion to a remote city in Russia after a potentially serious technical issue in the cargo hold was detected.
The incident raises obvious safety concerns for passengers who are US passport holders and are likely to have been on the 15-year-old Boeing 777-200, which was diverted to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia on Thursday evening.
Air India flight AI183 departed Delhi at around 3:44 pm on Thursday, and the complicated politics of using Russian airspace, Air India continues to fly over Russia for US-bound flights.
Data supplied by flight tracking website Flight Radar 24 shows that the aircraft departed Delhi and first flew over Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan before entering Russia around three hours after takeoff.
Overflying Russia to get from India to North America is quicker than other routes because the great circle distance is shorter. Although Air India doesn’t yet face any non-stop competition on this route, overflying Russia will still reduce fuel burn, and therefore costs.
Around two hours into its flight over Russia, however, the pilots of flight AI183 decided to divert the aircraft due to a technical issue which has been reported as a potential smoke detection in the cargo hold.
The aircraft had to turn back on itself and fly South to reach Krasnoyarsk where it landed without incident.
Unfortunately, the passengers and crew remain stranded in Krasnoyarsk and Air India says it is now arranging a replacement aircraft to fly out empty to Krasnoyarsk and pick up the passengers.
In the meantime, the passengers and crew remain in the care and control of the Russian authorities, given that Air India doesn’t have representatives in Siberia. The Tata-backed airline says it is “in liaison with government agencies and regulatory authorities” to make sure passengers are looked after.
“All of us at Air India are concerned about the passengers and staff and are making every effort possible to operate the ferry flight as soon as possible,” the airline said in a statement posted to its official X account.
The statement added that the airline was looking to “ensure the health, safety, and security of all while they wait.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago and tit-for-tat sanctions, Western airlines are barred from overflying Russia but India maintained its diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation so its freely allowed to fly across Russia.
The risks of doing so aren’t, however, unknown to Air India. Last June, another Air India flight from Delhi to San Francisco was forced to make an emergency diversion to the remote Russian town of Magadan Oblast after an engine malfunction.
In that case, the passengers were made to sleep on the floor of a local school after attempts to secure hotel accommodation failed.
Just a day before this incident, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby had criticized Air India for overflying Russia, saying that an impromptu stopover could put US citizens at risk.
United Airlines is set to go head-to-head on the Delhi to San Francisco route next year but expects the flight time to be a lot longer due to the requirement to avoid Russian airspace.
“the passengers were made to sleep on the floor of a local school after attempts to secure hotel accommodation failed.”
– You suddenly expect a lounge to materialize in the middle of Siberia ??
Herds of wildebeest outside the window for your viewing pleasure?
First world issues – just be glad it was not over the north pole!