San Francisco-bound Air India flight diverted due to medical emergency

A San Francisco-bound Air India flight from Delhi was diverted to Sapporo in Japan after a medical emergency was reported on-board, the airline said on Monday. An airline spokesperson said a passenger suffered heart problem and was admitted to a local hospital.

"Air India Flt (sic) AI 173 Delhi to San Francisco diverted to SPK due to a medical emergency," the airline posted on Twitter. There were 215 passengers on board the aircraft, the airline official said. The plane took off from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport here at 4.30 am, and had flown past Japan when it had to turn back towards Sapporo, capital of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

After an over five-hour halt in Sapporo, the plane took off at 8 pm for San Francisco, where it is expected to reach by 12.50 pm (local time).

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