Videos show plane being transported on Lagos road, not crash-landing

One of the many videos of the white passenger plane without wings was published on Instagram on May 24, 2022. 

“Plane reportedly crash land in Ikeja Lagos (sic),” reads the caption on the video, which was viewed more than 60,000 times. 

Image

Screenshot taken on May 26, 2022, showing the false Instagram post

The same claim was reported by Nigerian daily newspaper Daily Independent and UK daily tabloid The Daily Express.

“Footages of the incident are currently circulating on social media (sic),” according to the Daily Independent. “However, no indication that there was any casualty at the time of filing this report.”

But these videos actually show a passenger plane being towed along the side of a busy highway in Lagos – not a crash.

AFP Fact Check reviewed the footage and found that the plane was sitting on the bed of a tow truck,  while two other trucks transported the wings.

Image

Screenshot of a video showing a tow truck transporting the plane, taken on May 26, 2022

No recent crashes

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) dismissed reports of a plane crash-landing as false.

“The aircraft was sold by the owner to a buyer, who was taking it to its final destination,” read FAAN’s tweet.

Nigeria has seen several air crashes in the past years, with some recent ones involving military aircraft. Nigeria’s ex-army chief, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, died in the crash of a Beechcraft 350 Super King Air in 2021.