Air India to send ferry flight to Russia where U.S.-bound passengers are stranded after a technical glitch

Air India said it will send a ferry flight to Russia after a San Francisco-bound Air India flight from New Delhi made an emergency landing in Magadan airport after a technical glitch on June 6.

Air India said it will send a ferry flight at 1 p.m. IST to Russia where 216 passengers bound for San Francisco are stranded after a technical glitch on one of its flights on June 6.

The United States on June 6 said it is closely monitoring the situation after a San Francisco-bound Air India flight made an emergency landing in Russia.

Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on June 6 owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement last evening. The flight, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely.

"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. I'm not able to confirm how many U.S. 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," Patel said in response to a question.

(With inputs from PTI)