An Air India flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Delhi diverted to Moscow early Sunday. The unscheduled landing marks the second time one of the carrier’s flights diverted to Russia in less than four months.
According to Flightradar24 tracking data, flight 106 – a Boeing 777-300ER registered as VT-ALJ – departed Newark on Saturday morning before diverting to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport after approximately 10 hours in the air.
The airline’s flight status page confirmed the diversion. Flight 106 landed in Moscow just after 5 a.m. local time before proceeding to Delhi approximately three hours later.
In September, an Air India Boeing 787-8 from Delhi to Birmingham, England, diverted to Moscow with technical issues. Earlier this year, a Delhi to San Francisco flight operated by Air India made an unscheduled landing at a Siberian airport.
Air India cut scheduled flights to Russia in 2022 but continues to overfly the country on some flights, including to North America. Most Western airlines remain barred from overflying Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
It remains unclear as to why Air India 106 diverted over the weekend. Some early unconfirmed reports indicate a passenger died on board the aircraft.
An airline spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
