On June 6, the passengers of Air India’s Flight 173 from New Delhi to San Francisco were in for an unexpected detour when their aircraft encountered an engine issue. The Air India Boeing 777-200LR, registered as VT-ALH and powered by two GE90-115B engines, took a detour to Magadan, Russia. Safely landing at the Sokol Airport about 90 minutes post-diversion, the aircraft and its 216 passengers found themselves almost 31 miles north of Magadan in the town of Sokol, home to around 5,000 residents.
Owing to Sokol’s limited hospitality infrastructure, the passengers found temporary shelter at a local school as they awaited a rescue aircraft.
The Rescue Operation
On June 7, Air India dispatched another Boeing 777-200LR from Mumbai to Magadan to rescue the stranded passengers. The relief flight, AI195, departed Mumbai at 09:51 UTC and landed in Magadan at 19:13 UTC. In addition to passengers, the rescue aircraft also brought along necessary supplies and catering for the onward journey to San Francisco. The flight from Magadan to San Francisco eventually departed on June 7 at 23:27 UTC, marking approximately 38 hours since the original flight’s diversion.
Air India’s Brewing Troubles
Technical difficulties and diversions are a common part of aviation life. However, diverting an aircraft to a location where securing replacement parts could infringe multiple sanctions exacerbates the situation. For instance, a Norwegian 737-8 MAX that had to divert to Shiraz, Iran, in December 2018 spent a staggering 70 days on the ground, largely due to the effort needed to secure an export license for a replacement engine.
If the issue with the GE90-115B engine on Air India’s 777 necessitates an entire engine replacement, the problem amplifies. The GE90 is the world’s largest in-service aircraft engine, with a fan diameter of 3.3 meters (128 inches). Transporting such a behemoth requires an aircraft of a similar scale, most commonly the Antonov An-124.
However, only a few operators fly the Antonov An-124. Antonov Airlines and Maximus Air Cargo both operate the An-124s, but as Ukrainian companies, they can’t fly to Russia. Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr Airlines has a substantial fleet of An-124s, but only one has taken flight since March. Depending on the replacement engine’s location, a Volga-Dnepr aircraft may be restricted from picking it up due to regulations on Russian aircraft operating in specific countries.
Shipping the GE90 engines in other aircraft, like a Boeing 747, is feasible, but this requires partial disassembly, adding further complications. Moreover, Sokol Airport doesn’t routinely host heavy maintenance for the Boeing 777, adding to the challenge of replacing the engine in non-standard conditions. Such an undertaking calls for specialized tooling in addition to the engine itself. As Air India’s situation unfolds, the path to a speedy recovery appears far from certain.
The Long Road Ahead
The saga of Air India’s Flight 173 is far from over. What started as a routine journey became an unexpected detour and now represents a complex logistical and technical problem. The replacement of the massive GE90-115B engine, coupled with international sanctions and logistical limitations, has placed Air India in a challenging predicament.
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