AI plane diverted to Tashkent due to medical emergency

An Air India plane to New York from here with 253 people onboard was diverted to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, due to a medical emergency.

The national carrier's non-stop flight AI-101 took off at its scheduled time from Delhi airport at 1.30 AM with 241 passengers and 12 crew members.

But as the Boeing 777 aircraft was flying over the Central Asian nation, flight attendants informed the captain about a medical emergency, an airline official said here, without giving details details of the passenger involved.

As the plane was in Uzbekistan airspace, the pilots informed the air traffic control tower at the Tashkent International Airport and sought permission to land, explaining about the medical emergency.

After the ATC granted permission, the plane landed at around 5.30 AM IST safely at the Tashkent International airport.

The person, whose details and nature of medical emergency was not immediately known, was rushed to the hospital there, an Air India spokesperson said, adding that "Air India has asked for help from the Indian Embassy there as we don't have an office in that country".

Passengers were being taken care of and efforts are on to provide necessary facilities to the passengers at Tashkent, he added.

The spokesperson also said that due to the diversion, the return flight from New York to Delhi (AI-102) , which was to be operated with the same aircraft, has been delayed and its time of departure would be informed later.