(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)
But...?: While AI315 indeed caught fire after landing at New Delhi airport, the photo being shared with the claim is old and unrelated.
In reality, the photograph shows an Air India plane which caught fire in Muscat, Oman in September 2022.
How do we know?: A simple reverse image search on the photo led us to a report by The Free Press Journal from September 2022.
Carrying the same image, the report noted that it shows an Air India Express flight which had caught fire in Muscat, Oman, prompting the airline to abort taking off.
A further keyword search showed us more reports from The Times of India, India Today, and Hindustan Times carrying similar visuals, all published on 15 September 2022.
They mentioned that the Kochi-bound flight was carrying 141 passengers and six crew members, who were all evacuated using the emergency slide after smoke was detected in one of the engines.
What happened at Delhi Airport?: On 22 July 2025, Air India flight AI 315 between Hong Kong and New Delhi caught fire after landing in India.
The airline issued a statement saying that the flight "experiences an auxiliary power unit (APU) fire shortly after it had landed," and that while there was some damage to the aircraft, "passengers and crew members disembarked normally, and are safe."
Conclusion: A three-year-old photo is being shared to falsely claim that it shows the Hong Kong-New Delhi Air India flight which recently caught fire.
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