evidence: A claim began circulating online, primarily on X, involving President Joe Biden stepping onto an airplane after a landmark prisoner swap with Russia in earlier this week. The swap involved the release of three Americans: WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Russian-American editor Alsu Kurmasheva. [...] Another piece of evidence disproving the Biden "empty plane" rumor is a photo hosted on Getty Images, taken by photographer Brendan Smialowski. The caption of the archived image explicitly notes that Biden climbed the plane's stairs at Joint Base Andrews "to talk to the pilot who flew the former prisoners." In summary, Biden did not board an "empty plane." Video evidence and eyewitness accounts show that Biden entered the aircraft to visit at least one pilot and possibly others who were still on board.