On 20 October 2025, a cargo plane from Dubai skidded off the runway at Hong Kong International Airport, collided with a security patrol vehicle, and fell into the sea, killing two airport staff. All four crew members on board survived, and investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the accident (here, here and here).
In this context, a few photos (here and here) of an Air Niugini plane in the water have been circulated online, claiming that the aircraft crashed in Mumbai and that two people were injured. Let’s uncover the truth behind these photos.
Claim: The viral photo shows a plane crash that occurred in the sea near Mumbai in October 2025.
Fact: The photo actually depicts the Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 that landed in a lagoon off Chuuk International Airport in Micronesia on 28 September 2018. It has no connection to Mumbai or India, and no flight crash was reported in Mumbai in October. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To uncover the truth, we performed a reverse image search on Google, which led us to several news reports (here, here, here and here), including from the BBC. All the reports featuring the viral photos are from September 2018 and are not recent.
According to the reports, the viral photo is not from Mumbai. It shows an Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 that came down in a lagoon off Chuuk International Airport in Micronesia after missing the runway on 28 September 2018. The plane carried 36 passengers and 11 crew, all of whom were rescued with the help of locals in small boats. Four passengers were reported in serious condition, as water had risen to waist height inside the cabin, and the aircraft had landed short due to poor weather and reduced visibility.
A side-by-side comparison of the 2018 photos from Micronesia and the viral photo confirms that both depict the same incident. The viral photo has no connection to Mumbai or India.
To sum up, 2018 photos of a plane that crash-landed in a Pacific lagoon in Micronesia are being falsely shared as if they are from Mumbai
