Air India reserve plane to pick up passengers of Delhi-SF flight from Russia; US 'monitoring situation'

The flight had to land at an airport in Magadan due to technical issues

ITDC INIDA EPRESS/ ITDC NEWS:  A reserve Air India plane landed in Russia's far eastern town of Magadan on Wednesday morning to pick up passengers of the Air India flight AI173 from Delhi to San Francisco which had to land at an airport in Magadan due to technical issues.

A statement by Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said the planned landing time is 6 a.m. Moscow time (0300 GMT) on June 7. The agency said it permitted the reserve plane to land in Magadan, a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk.

The flight which had an emergency landing carried 216 passengers and 16 crew onboard. According to the airline, the aircraft was forced to divert and land after a technical issue with one of its engines. The flight landed safely.

Meanwhile, the United States on Tuesday said it is closely monitoring the situation after the flight made an emergency landing in Russia.