India, June 17 -- An Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai had to be grounded at the NSCBI airport in Kolkata in the early hours of Tuesday and passengers had to be deboarded after the aircraft developed engine snag, officials said.

"Flight AI 180, which had arrived from San Francisco at the Kolkata airport around 12:47, was scheduled to leave for Mumbai at 2:00 am. There were 224 passengers on board," said an airport official.

The Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, however, developed a snag in its left engine after passengers boarded the flight and was declared Aircraft on Ground (AOG), meaning the aircraft was grounded due to technical problems.

Around 5:20 am, an announcement was made in the aircraft asking all passengers to deplan...