Air India said today, June 7, that 216 passengers and 16 crew members on the flight were moved to temporary accommodation on June 6, due to infrastructure limitations at the airport in the Russian city of Magadan, according to Reuters.
The diversion raises questions about how quickly the $200 million Boeing 777, which has engines made by General Electric, can be repaired, given the US and European Union (EU) sanctions on the export of aerospace products to Russia.
"That plane needs repairs, mechanics are on board," Indian Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters, referring to the flight that would pick up the stranded passengers. "I don't know how long it will take to repair that plane but the passengers will be taken to their final destination," Scindia said.
An Air India plane
Air India engineers will travel to Russia on the spare plane along with spare parts, a source at Magadan airport told Reuters.
A stranded passenger named Gagan told India's NDTV that there were many Americans on the flight who were worried about tensions between Russia and the United States. Air India did not immediately respond to a request for information on the passengers' nationalities.
US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said on June 6 that it was "possible" that there were Americans on the plane due to the flight's destination.
Angry passengers took to Twitter to complain about inadequate food provision at their accommodation, which they said looked like a school.
Air India said it did not have any staff in Russia and that the assistance provided to passengers was “the best possible in this extraordinary situation,” according to Reuters.
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