Цікава історія
Nikodem Szczygłowski
23h
Passengers on a Boeing 777 Air India flight from New Delhi to San Francisco were probably unaware of the existence of a Russian city like Magadan, and none of them had ever been there in their lives and were not planning to travel there.
However, eight hours after take-off, during a flight over Russian territory, one of the engines failed and the plane landed.... right now in Magadan, at the local airport in the town of Sokol. It is a town located ok. 50 kms north of Magadan and counting 5,000 residents with no logistical capacity to house 216 passengers and 16 crew members of Air India Flight. Fortunately, the school holidays have just begun in Russia, so the passengers have been accommodated in the school building - in classrooms, hallways and in the gym.
After 38 hours at Magadan airport and a local school (pictured), the passengers continued their journey to San Francisco on a different plane.
But it wasn't the end of the story for Air India.
Air India’s Boeing 777-200LR, which is malfunctioning, is equipped with the world’s largest engines manufactured by American General Electric. One of the engines had to be replaced. It's not easy as Russia is subject to sanctions on the import of aircraft parts.
But even if a one-time import permit for the engine is obtained, the question remains how to get it to Magadan.
The only aircraft in the world that can deliver a complete engine of this size is the Ukrainian An-124. For reasons rather understandable Antonov will not fly to Russia at the moment.
Another user of the AN-124 Arab Maxus line is also not flying to Russia, while the Russian carrier Volga Dnepr (again due to sanctions) cannot use its AN-124 for foreign flights.
Another aircraft that can deliver an engine to Russia is a cargo Boeing 747, but it could only deliver this engine in a disassembled state. However, in Magadan there are no conditions for assembly and maintenance of B777 engines.
So, getting the Magadan-stuck Boeing back to Delhi could prove to be quite a challenge for Air India as importing and installing a new engine.
For now, Air India has suspended all routes running through Russian airspace.
The situation that has occurred should also give a lot to think about for other airlines that still use similar routes (de facto financing in this way Russian Aeroflot, which is a direct beneficiary of the Russian air control authority taking transit fees from foreign lines).
Update: Air India has resumed its flight programme via Russian airspace
