Footage from Pakistan plane crash falsely linked to conflict with India

Published on May 16, 2025 at 07:10
3 min read
By Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka

As arch-rivals India and Pakistan exchanged tit-for-tat missile, drone and fighter jet attacks across their shared frontier, a video was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed a downed Pakistani pilot being cared for by Indian civilians. The footage in fact shows the aftermath of a crash of a training flight and circulated weeks before the rapid escalation in violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

"Indian civilians helping a Pakistani pilot," reads the Sinhala-language caption of a video compilation shared on Facebook on May 8, 2025.

The compilation comprises clips of a plane engulfed in flames and people appearing to help injured pilots.

It circulated a day after India launched deadly missile strikes on Pakistan, which sparked four days of intense fighting that killed at least 70 people (archived link).

The violence came a fortnight after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing an attack that killed 26 people in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir (archived link). Pakistan denies any involvement in the attack.

The clashes, the worst between the neighbours in decades, was brought to a halt by a ceasefire agreed on May 10.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on May 9, 2025

The compilation was also shared alongside similar posts elsewhere on Facebook.

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google, however, found the footage had previously circulated in news reports about a plane crash that took place weeks before the current conflict erupted.

The clip of the plane in flames was mirrored from a clip used by news outlet eTimes Pakistan on Instagram on April 16 (archived link).

"A Pakistan Air Force Jet has crashed near Vehari City," reads its caption.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and eTimes Pakistan video (right)

A similar image was used by Pakistan's Dawn newspaper in an April 16 report about a crash the previous day involving a Pakistan Air Force training aircraft near Ratta Tibba in the northwestern district of Vehari (archived link).

"Both the pilots had a miraculous escape as they ejected themselves and remained unhurt," read the report, which said they were flown to an army hospital.

The second clip in the compilation, showing a man in military fatigues being cared for by civilians, was taken from a longer video posted by Pakistan media outlet Daily Ausaf Gilgit Baltistan on its Facebook page on April 16 (archived link).

This clip was also mirrored in the false posts.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Daily Ausaf Gilgit Baltistan clip (right)

The clip showing the other pilot was previously published by Pakistan's CTN News on April 15 (archived link).

"A fighter jet has crashed just now. Pilots are coming down with parachutes," says someone speaking in Urdu, which can be heard on the clip. "The smoke is rising from near my shop. It has fallen here in Ratta Tibba."

The false posts used a mirrored version of the clip.

Screenshot of the falsely shared clip (left) and CTN News video (right)

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the India-Pakistan conflict here, here and here.

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