SAN FRANCISCO- Tata-owned Indian FSC, Air India (AI) flight from Bengaluru (BLR) to San Francisco (SFO) made an unscheduled diversion at Anchorage (ANC), Alaska, due to some technical issues.
The flight was operated using a 15.5-year-old Ex-Delta Air Lines (DL) Boeing 777-200LR. Further, it has the registration VT-AEF and has been named Vihaan. It is the first ex-Delta aircraft inducted on lease in the AI fleet.
Air India Flight Diverted to ANC
The Indian carrier flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco is one of the longest in the world, as it takes more than 16 hours to complete the journey. Air India operates three weekly flights on the BLR-SFO route.
Now, let us establish a flight timeline with the help of FlightRadar24 (FR24) data and find out what actually happened.
According to FR24, the Air India flight AI175 took off from Bengaluru Airport (BLR) at around 8:05 PM UTC. After being airborne for approximately six hours, the flight reported some disturbance.
At the time of occurrence, the flight was near the China coast and over the East China Sea. The flight made some holding patterns, probably due to some technical issues with the aircraft system or maybe due to unfavorable weather conditions.
But after 30 minutes, it continued flying on the flight path. However, the flight crew decided to divert to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) in Alaska and landed safely at around 10:20 PM UTC.
After staying on the ground for around two hours, the flight again took off at 12:18 AM UTC. After staying airborne for four hours, the flight reached its final destination, San Francisco, at 4:20 AM UTC. Overall, the AI flight took around 20 hours to complete the BLR-SFO flight.
Passenger has shown dissatisfaction with Air India over this diversion.
The exact reason for this diversion is not known at the time of writing this post. However, it can be due to technical issues, medical emergencies, or some flight equipment failure. We will update you once we have confirmation from the airline.
Similar Incident
On June 6, 2023, the Air India (AI) flight from Delhi (DEL) to San Francisco (SFO) over Russian airspace diverted to the Magadan Airport in Russia over a suspected Engine problem. Air India operates daily non-stop flights on the DEL-SFO route using its Boeing 777.
According to Flight Radar 24, the aircraft took off from Delhi Int’l Airport at 10:35 PM UTC on June 6, 2023. The AI 173 flight en route to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) over Russian Airspace.
However, the aircraft reported a technical snag in one of its engines. Subsequently, the pilot decided to divert the flight to one of the nearest airports.
The aircraft landed safely at Magadan Airport (GDX) in Russia at around 8:36 AM UTC. The plane was airborne for almost 10 hours from its Takeoff from DEL.
According to an Air India spokesperson, 216 passengers and 16 crew members were on board Flight AI173.
The spokesperson stated, “The passengers are being given necessary assistance at the airport and will be offered alternative options to reach their intended destination as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the aircraft is currently undergoing required inspections on the ground.”
The aircraft involved in the incident was a Boeing 777-300 ER. Further, it is powered by one of the most powerful General Electric-developed GE 90 Engines. It has the registration VT-ALH. Further, it is an approximate 14-year-old aircraft that AI took delivery of back in 2009.
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