Air India mishap delhi
Air India mishap Delhi bound flight AI315 catches fire – aircraft grounded
VT-TVG Air India said on Tuesday (Jul 22, 2025) it has grounded a passenger jet AIRCRAFT Airbus A321-251NX (LR) [VT-TVG] for checks after a power generator caught fire shortly after landing.
An Air India flight from Hong Kong to Delhi faced a mishap. Flight AI 315’s auxiliary power unit caught fire after landing. The incident happened as passengers were disembarking. The APU shut down automatically. All passengers and crew are safe. The aircraft suffered some damage. Authorities have grounded the plane for investigation. The regulator has received notification about the incident.
The auxiliary power unit (APU) located in the tail section of an Air India Airbus A321 (VT-TVG) caught fire at Delhi airport when passengers were disembarking from the aircraft after its arrival from Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The aircraft, which had about 170 people on board, was damaged. Luckily passengers and crew were unhurt.
The airline has reported this to the regulator. Sources say this could be due to a maintenance issue.
An AI spokesperson said: “Flight AI 315, operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on July 22, 2025, experienced an 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.
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.
According to aviation website Skybrary, APU allows an aircraft to operate autonomously without reliance on ground support equipment such as a ground power unit, an external air-conditioning unit or a high pressure air start cart.
“The APU is a small jet engine which is normally located in the tail cone of the aircraft but, in some cases, is located in an engine nacelle or in the wheel well. The APU can be started utilising only the aircraft battery(s) and, once running, will provide electrical power to aircraft systems as well as bleed air for AC and for engine start,” .
There have been instances of APU failure of APU fire both on ground and inflight globally. In June 2016, the cabin of a fully loaded Airbus A330 of a foreign airline on ground at London Heathrow was engulfed with smoke and an emergency evacuation had to be initiated. Investigation found that the smoke had been caused when an APU seal failed and hot oil entered the bleed air supply.
