An Air India flight between Delhi and San Francisco was forced to divert to a Russian airport early Wednesday morning June 7, after an engine issue prevented the aircraft from flying onwards to the U.S. or U.S. allied country. 

The diversion comes amid a heated international debate between airlines and governments over whether the United States and allied countries should begin talks with Russia to allow Western carriers to transition through Russian airspace on Asia flights to Europe and the Americas.

Air India (AI) Flight 173 

The Boeing 777-200LR at the center of the diversion, VP-ALH, was operating the outbound leg of Air India's route between Delhi Indira Gandhi Int'l Airport (DEL) hub and San Francisco Int'l Airport (SFO) on June 6. 

The aircraft took off on time at 4:23 a.m. All went as planned for around nine hours until flight 173 was cruising over the Siberian Far East. At around 07:00 UTC on June 6, a transmission by the pilots of Flight 173 was made to Russian air traffic control services notifying them of an apparently severe engine issue onboard the Air India 777.

Shortly after this, flight 173 began to shift its Easterly track of 90 degrees South to 185 degrees, directly South towards the Russian city of Magadan (GDX), which was the only suitable diversion airport for a wide-body aircraft like the Boeing 777. 

An hour and a half later at 08:35 UTC, the Boeing 777-200LR touched down on the 11,326 -oot (3452-meter) Runway 10 of Magadan's Sokol Airport (GDX).

Sanctions may hamper the repair of the diverted aircraft

After the diversion of Flight 173, the Air India Boeing 777-200LR's two western-made GE-90 engines were said to be checked by maintenance workers belonging to Russia's Aviation Authority - Rosaviatsiya. This raised concerns in the West over what might happen to the problem-stricken Air India aircraft due to its presence in a country where aircraft parts for Western planes such as the American-built Boeing 777 are becoming increasingly rare due to sanctions.

Compounding this all are the previously mentioned sanctions. What happens if the required aircraft part to fix Air India's 777-200LR isn't available? How will a sanctioned country import aircraft parts for a foreign airline to fix a Western aircraft, and if those aircraft parts are allowed to be imported, will Russian authorities allow the repair of the aircraft and allow it to continue on its normal schedule? Will an American aircraft with valuable parts be confiscated by Russian authorities? These questions still remain unanswered. 

It is possible that U.S. citizens were on AI 173

In regards to the possible presence of U.S. citizens stuck in an unfriendly, enemy country due to the Air India diversion, the U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel Tuesday stated "...We are aware of a U.S.-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia and are continuing to monitor that situation closely...[it is] likely that there are Americans onboard...given its planned destination..."

Due to the possibility of Russian retaliation against U.S. citizens onboard, Air India chose not to disclose any passenger details to Russian authorities (besides passport information) for the duration of the diversion. 

As for the 216 passengers and 16 crew onboard the diverted flight (U.S. citizens or not), Rosaviatsiya assured Western governments and Air India executives that “...At present, the question of passengers' stay and accommodation is being resolved by border, customs and regional authorities...”

A replacement aircraft is on the way 

It was apparent that the original aircraft operating AI 173, VP-ALH, wouldn't be able to be repaired for quite some time due to the previously mentioned sanctions. So before the problem stricken 777 landed at Magadan (GDX), Rosaviatsiya had given permission to Air India to send a replacement aircraft to Magadan airport to pick up the stranded passengers and continue on to San Francisco (SFO). 

The replacement aircraft, another Boeing 777-200LR VT-ALF, departed from Delhi (DEL) at 18:21 UTC and is due to land at Magadan at 03:00 UTC.

Had this diversion occurred anywhere besides Russia, it wouldn't be such a big issue

The problems that have arisen for the aviation world as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is that the West has banned the import of aircraft parts into Russia, as well as banning aircraft from flying over Russian airspace.

This, along with hostility towards citizens of the United States and its allied countries has once again sparked the debate over neutral countries' positions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Unlike what Russia considers "hostile" countries, neutral players in the Russia-Ukraine conflict such as India (and the flag carrier - Air India) are allowed to operate flights to and through Russian airspace, which led to the diversion that occurred on June 7. 

Despite China acting neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, newly restarted flights to the United States from China avoid Russian airspace, most presumably due to the threat a diversion poses to possible U.S. citizens on board in light of Russia's hostility towards them.