Air India 787 Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Moscow, Russia

MOSCOW- Tata-owned Air India (AI) flight from Delhi International Airport (DEL) to Birmingham Airport (BHX), United Kingdom (UK) made an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) in Moscow, Russia.

According to reports, the flight crew decided to divert to Russia amid technical issues with the aircraft.

Photo: Dnata

Air India Emergency Landing

Now, let us establish a flight timeline and gather more information using Flight Radar 24 data.

Air India flight AI113 took off from Delhi on August 4, 2024, at 9:01 AM UTC (2:31 PM IST). After being airborne for around six hours and maintaining an altitude of 40,000 feet, the crew witnessed some technical issues.

Following this, the flight crew decided to divert to a nearby airport. The flight had crossed Moscow city and was en route to Birmingham. The flight landed safely at Moscow’s main airport at around 3:20 PM UTC.

The official aware of the incident stated that “Air India flight AI 113 from Delhi to Birmingham was diverted to Moscow following the technical issues.”

They further added, ‘After carrying out necessary and standard checks, the aircraft was ready to fly again. The flight took off again same day and has landed safely at Birmingham on September 5, 2024.’

There were 275 people including 258 passengers and 17 crew members onboard the aircraft.

What could have gone wrong or what was the issue? Well, it can be anything from false fire indications to some system warnings. Further, Air India has not issued a statement on this precautionary landing.

The aircraft involved in the incident is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registered as VT-ANP. It is the same plane having the special “Mahatma Gandhi” livery shown in the featured image and it is a 10.4-year-old aircraft.

Air India is the largest airline on Europe-India routes. It single-handedly operates 20% of flights between Europe and India. Gurugram-based carrier serves eight European cities.

Air India operates 3x weekly flights between Delhi and Birmingham using Boeing 787 fleet. It also has 3x weekly flights between Amritsar (ATQ) and Birmingham.

Well, this is not the first time that an Air India flight has been diverted to Russia.

Photo: Utkarsh Thakkar (Vimanspotter)

Similar Incidents

Since last year, we have been hearing that Air India flights are diverting to Russia following a technical issue. Well, it’s obvious as Russia is the largest country in the world, and Air India is allowed to fly over Russian airspace for its flights to Europe and North America.

On June 2023, an Air India flight from Delhi to San Francisco (SFO) over Russian airspace diverted to the Magadan Airport in Russia over a suspected Engine problem. There were a total of 216 passengers and 16 crew members on board Flight AI173 operated by Boeing 777-300ER, registered as VT-ALH.

Once again, on July 18, 2024, Air India flight AI183 from Delhi Int’l Airport (DEL) to San Francisco (SFO) was diverted to Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA) in Russia. There was a fire alarm in the cargo compartment where passenger luggage was secured.

Luckily no injuries were reported in any of these incidents. But passengers go through lots of adversity and difficulties. Well, such rare occurrences are unpredictable but should be avoided by carrying out proper preventive maintenance.

What are your thoughts on Air India’s flight diversions to Russia? Let us know in the comment section below.

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