Claim
A video is going viral on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) with two fighter jets taking off. One of the jets crashed while doing so. The user, Voice of Bangladeshi Muslims (@VOBMUSLIMs) has shared the video with the caption, “BREAKING!! An Indian Air Force fighter jet has crashed during a takeoff drill from a highway as part of a wartime exercise. This is the second crash of their fighter jet since the start of the 3-day exercise”
Here is the link to a similar claim with the same video. The caption posted with the video is the same as posted by Voice of Bangladeshi Muslims (@VOBMUSLIMs).
Many users have shared this video online. Here, here, and here are the links that were shared online.
Fact Check
To investigate the claim made about the viral video, the DFRAC conducted a reverse image search of the keyframes from the video. This led our team to many other videos posted on X and other platforms.
The same video is posted on TikTok by a user named nik_daven. The video and its description have reference to MiG-27 air force jet. The user has denoted that this aircraft belonged to the Indian Air Force, as the video showed many shorts of various Indian Air Force’s MiG-27 and had it in the description of the video.
Taking the lead from here, our team conducted a keyword search on the MiG-27 crash.
Our team found a video on YouTube which was uploaded on January 16, 2013. The shows the exact video as shown in the viral post.
We made a keyword search on the pilot involved in the crash. Keyword used: Wing Commander Oswald de Abreu. Our team gathered the info about the pilot from the comment section of the video.
This led us to a news report by New18, from June 15, 2010, which stated that the air force lost a MiG-27 fighter jet when it crashed near Hashimara in West Bengal. Wing Commander Oswald de Abreu, who was flying the plane, died in the crash.
Our team also found this video uploaded on Facebook. One video was on October 22, 2017. The other was uploaded on February 6, 2018. Both videos are the same as the viral video and predate the claim made about the video.
Conclusion
Hence, it is proved by the fact check that the viral video is old and doesn’t show the ground reality. The viral video is from a 2010 Air Force Jet crash. This video is found to be uploaded on YouTube on January 16, 2013. Our fact check shows this video was uploaded on Facebook on two occasions on October 22, 2017, and another was uploaded on February 6, 2018.
Therefore, the viral claim is misleading.
