Hi,
A plane just crashed while landing and the passengers are abandoning it. A few minutes later, reporters arrive and in an interview, a survivor says "There's are still people [in/on] the plane".
I know learners are told to use on when it comes to planes. However, I heard a native say 'in' in this context. I guess the preposition associated with planes is not fixed to [on] but context dependent.
What do you think? I agree with you about the context dependency. In this case, I think we prefer to say 'in' because the plane is on the ground and is no longer "like a plane" since it has crashed and is damaged.
Best wishes, Clive