Summary
- Air India flight 183 diverted to Krasnoyarsk, Russia due to a potential issue in the cargo hold area.
- The aircraft was bound for San Francisco, California.
- Air India is working on deploying a ferry flight to ensuring the safety of its passengers and crew.
An Air India Boeing 777-200LR enroute to San Francisco from New Delhi diverted to Krasnoyarsk, Russia, on Thursday after a “potential issue in the cargo hold area.” The aircraft was about six hours into its 15-hour flight when it changed course.
The airline said it is “concerned about the passengers and staff” onboard and is working on deploying another aircraft to continue the flight as soon as possible. It is unclear if any US citizens were on the flight.
Flight details
The flight, AI183, departed from gate 1 at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) at 15:20 local time, according to FlightAware. The plane was airborne by 15:45 and headed south to travel west of the airport before turning north to intercept its flight path. About 23 minutes later, it had reached its initial cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. It maintained the altitude for about half an hour before climbing to 32,000 feet.
Photo: Flightradar24
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The aircraft’s first commercial flight was between Delhi and Bengaluru.
Its cruise appeared uneventful as it flew over Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and eastern Kazakhstan. It subsequently jumped to 33,000 feet as it crossed over the Russian border. It is believed that the aircraft began to descend between five hours and 30 minutes and six hours after taking off DEL. Flight data picked up the aircraft’s altitude, which was around 10,000 feet, around six and a half hours into the flight. As it headed south, nearing Krasnoyarsk, the aircraft eventually turned northwest for its final approach at Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA). The exact time of when it landed at the airport is unclear.
Landing safely
Air India, however, confirmed that the flight had diverted Thursday morning around 10:00 PDT. Two hours later, in a second update, the airline provided more details.
“Air India flight AI183 of 18 July 2024 operating Delhi to San Francisco made a precautionary landing at Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA) in Russia after the cockpit crew detected a potential issue in the cargo hold area. The aircraft landed safely at KJA with all 225 passengers and 19 members of the flight crew, who have now disembarked and have been taken to the terminal building for further processes.”
Photo: yanchi1984 | Shutterstock
According to Sunny Anand, a journalist at World Is One News (WION), a fire was suspected in the aircraft’s luggage compartment. The Federal Air Transport clarified that there were no signs of fire or smoke, but a fire sensor in the cargo hold was reportedly activated.
Ensuring security
Air India said that it is working to provide assistance to the affected passengers. However, since it does not have its own staff in Krasnoyarsk, the airline is arranging for a third party to support them. Additionally, the carrier will dispatch another aircraft to KJA to continue the flight to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
“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, and to ensure the health, safety, and security of all while they wait,” the airline explained. “We will share further updates as soon as they are available.”
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