Air India flight diverted to Russia lands at SFO
SAN FRANCISCO - An Air India flight carrying hundreds that was forced to divert to Russia has finally landed at San Francisco International Airport.
Families welcomed home loved ones after the flight from central Russia touched down at SFO around 8:30 pm Friday.
More than 220 passengers and more than a dozen crew members were onboard Air India Flight 183 when the pilots detected a potentially serious technical problem in the cargo area of the Boeing 777 that led to an unscheduled stop in Russia with a major delay.
"The last 40 hours have been a nightmare since we heard the flight landed in Russia. But now we are ready to leave, and [parents-in-law] have been awake for like 48 hours," said Ashish Shrivastava with relatives on the flight.
Featured
Laptop in checked luggage caused smoke, evacuation of plane at SFO
A laptop in a customer's checked bag is responsible for the smoke that led to an evacuation of an American Airlines plane at the San Francisco International Airport on Friday. The evacuation happened as passengers were boarding the flight, according to video at the scene and the airport.
Air India sent a new jet to Russia loaded with supplies and to pick up passengers. The FAA said it's working with Air India to figure out exactly what went wrong.
The situation is similar when, in June 2023, another Air India flight flying the same route from Delhi to SFO had to make an emergency landing in Russia.
The passengers impacted were taken to a school gym while another plane was flown in.
Western airlines have been banned from flying over Russia due to U.S. sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.