Posts misrepresent old air show accident as 'another plane crash' after US aviation disasters

"Another plane crash. Frequent air accidents involving US Air Force spark Trump's irritation," reads simplified Chinese text on an X video shared on February 2, 2025.

The video, which was viewed more than 320,000 times, shows two people ejecting from a jet over a body of water. The jet then appears to crash beyond a line of trees, causing an explosion.

It was shared after a passenger plane and a US Army helicopter collided near Washington and plunged into the Potomac River late on January 29 (archived link). Sixty passengers on the plane and four crew members were killed in the accident along with three soldiers aboard the US Army Black Hawk helicopter.

Trump was quick to blame diversity hiring policies for the accident -- the deadliest US air crash in 20 years -- although no evidence has emerged that they were responsible.

Two days later, a medical jet with six people onboard crashed into a busy Philadelphia neighbourhood, exploding on impact and showering wreckage over homes and vehicles (archived link). At least one other person, who was in a car, was also killed, and 19 others were wounded.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating both accidents.

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Screenshot of the false X post, captured on February 8, 2025

The video was also shared elsewhere on X here and here, as well as on Chinese video platform Douyin, with comments suggesting users believed the claim.

"The deep state's plan is to drop one plane a day," read one comment. Another said: "It's like winning the lottery one after another, which is unbelievable."

But the video has circulated since August 2023.

Michigan air show crash

A reverse image search and subsequent keyword search on Google led to a longer version of the video posted on YouTube by CBS Detroit on August 14, 2023 (archived link).

The video's description said it showed a jet that crashed at Thunder Over Michigan, an air show at the Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti, on August 13, 2023.

The footage used in the false posts corresponds to the 23-second section starting at the YouTube clip's 10-second mark.

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Screenshot comparisons of the falsely shared video (left) and the video posted by CBS Detroit (right)

CBS News used the video in its coverage, and credited the footage to one of its viewers.

They reported that both people onboard the plane ejected from the plane, a MiG-23 fighter jet, and were not seriously injured (archived link). Authorities said the aircraft crashed into the parking lot of an apartment building, striking unoccupied vehicles and no one at the airport complex or the air show were injured.

Similar videos showing the same incident from different angles were shared on the websites of NBC and WXYZ (archived here and here).

According to the WXYZ report, the pilot was a retired US Navy lieutenant commander who collects Soviet-made fighter jets.

The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report into the accident said it involved a "privately owned Russian designed military fighter airplane", and the pilot and pilot-rated observer received minor injuries (archived link). 

The report said both the pilot and rear-seat observer determined they were experiencing some form of engine problem and did not have enough altitude to make it to a runway at the Willow Run Airport.

"(The pilot) was actively troubleshooting when the rear seat observer stated that they needed to eject. The pilot reported that he was not ready to eject and was still troubleshooting the problem and maneuvering the airplane toward runway 27 at (Willow Run Airport) when his ejection seat fired, and he was out of the airplane," the report said.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Washington air disaster, including false claims about the helicopter pilot and purported images showing the crash site.