A FIRE broke out in an Air India plane’s power generator just after it landed in New Delhi from Hong Kong, with passengers still onboard.

Just 24 hours earlier, an Air India jet skidded off the runway as it landed at Mumbai International Airport, bursting three of its tyres and damaging its engine covering.

In the latest aviation scare, passengers were getting off an Airbus parked at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International when its auxiliary power unit (APU) caught fire on Tuesday.

APU is an electrical power generator located at the rear of a plane.

It is responsible for starting the main engines and powering onboard systems while an aircraft is stationed at the airport.

According to an Air India spokesperson, the safety system shut down the APU automatically, as designed.

The spokesperson said: “Flight AI 315, operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 22 July 2025, experienced an auxiliary power unit (APU) fire shortly after it had landed and parked at the gate.

“The incident occurred while passengers had begun disembarking, and the APU was automatically shut down as per system design.

They added: “There was some damage to the aircraft; however, passengers and crew members disembarked normally and are safe.

“The aircraft has been grounded for further investigations and the regulator has been duly notified.”

The airline did not elaborate on the damages.

Meanwhile, on Monday, an Air India plane veered off the runway at Mumbai International Airport due to heavy rain.

At the time of the plane’s bumpy landing, Mumbai’s suburbs – where the airport is located – were drenched by 4.5 inches of rain, according to the India Meteorological Department. 

The outer casing of the plane’s engine – known as the cowling – was damaged and three tyres burst as a result of the skidding, Times of India reports.

TV footage from NDTV and India Today reveals a number of dents on the cowling.

All passengers and crew were safe following the incident, according to the Mumbai airport.

It comes as Air India has come under scrutiny after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad last month, killing 260 people.

All but one of the 242 passengers and crew died, with Vishwash Ramesh, 40, the only survivor.

Another 19 people were killed on the ground in Ahmedabad.

A 15-page preliminary report, recently released by Indian authorities, reveals that switches controlling the engines’ fuel supply were moved from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’.

“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off,” the report reads.

This may have triggered a loss of thrust, which resulted in the jet crashing into a medical college.