Image shows Indian plane crash in 2024, not 'jet downed by Pakistan'

Published on May 8, 2025 at 05:54
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian jets on May 7, 2025 during the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades, but an image of the burning wreckage of an aircraft widely shared online predates the current crisis. The picture previously circulated in news reports from September 2024 about a fighter jet that India's air force said had crashed due to a technical issue.

"Pakistani media reveals two Indian planes shot down by Pakistan," reads a Thai-language Facebook post shared on May 7, 2025.

The post includes an image of a crashed jet engulfed in flames.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken May 7, 2025

India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival, in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades (archived link).

At least 43 deaths have been reported, with Islamabad saying 31 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling.

The escalation in violence came a fortnight after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing a deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir -- a charge Pakistan denies.

Pakistan's military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian jets had been shot down across the border. An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

The image was also shared in similar posts written in Thai, English and Bengali and appeared in several reports from local media in Pakistan as well as the US-based Muslim Network TV.

But a reverse image search led AFP to a corresponding clip embedded in an article posted by Indian news outlet India Today on September 2, 2024 (archived link).

According to the article, the jet crashed in the Barmer district of Rajasthan state during a routine night training mission.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and the clip in the India Today article (right)

A report from Indian broadcaster NDTV about the incident also featured similar visuals of the burning aircraft (archived link).

"During a routine night training mission in Barmer sector, an IAF MiG-29 encountered a critical technical snag, forcing the pilot to eject," the Indian Air Force wrote on X the following day (archived link).

"The pilot is safe and no loss of life or property was reported. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered."

AFP has debunked other misinformation following the attack in Kashmir here, here and here.

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