A BOEING flight bound for the UK was forced to make an emergency landing in Russia overnight after encountering “technical problems”.
The Air India flight from Delhi to Birmingham touched down at Moscow airport on Wednesday evening with some 258 passengers onboard.
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The 17-person crew were forced to make an unscheduled landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport at around 9.30pm local time.
The airport said in a statement: “The aircraft’s crew requested an unscheduled landing at Sheremetyevo Airport due to technical problems.
“Airport services promptly responded to the crew’s request and prepared to receive the aircraft according to the applicable emergency plan.
“The foreign crew received full assistance from the Russian airport and specialists under the applicable international convention.”
The UK government advises against all travel to Russia amid Vladimir Putin’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
It is not clear what technical problems the aircraft was facing when it made the unscheduled stop.
A different Air India flight heading from Delhi to San Francisco had to make an emergency landing in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk airport in July.
Crew were concerned about a possible problem in the hold section of the jet.
Passengers were essentially left stranded in the Russian region and needed third-party services to help them board a ferry to the US, according to the Hindustan Times.
It is not yet known how the few hundred passengers onboard this flight will get home from Moscow.
