Video shows pilot injured in 2019 crash, not 'shot down' by Pakistan

Published on May 26, 2025 at 09:16
2 min read
By Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka

A video of an injured pilot was filmed in Bangalore, India, contrary to posts claiming it shows an aviator shot down by Pakistani forces. The posts circulated as India and Pakistan traded tit-for-tat fighter jet, drone, missile and artillery attacks in May 2025, but the video was in fact filmed six years earlier.

"A video circulating in social media claims that Pakistani security forces shot down an Indian fighter jet after it entered Pakistan airspace and dropped bombs," reads part of a Tamil-language Facebook post shared May 7, 2025.

The video attached to the post shows a pilot with wounds to his face lying on his back, as people around him try to comfort him.

The video circulated on the day India launched deadly missile attacks on Pakistan, which sparked days of intense fighting that killed at least 70 people on both sides before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10 (archived here and here).

Pakistan's military claimed it had shot down five Indian jets during the fighting, but India has not officially confirmed the loss of any of its aircraft (archived here and here).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured May 19, 2025

The video also spread in similar posts elsewhere on Facebook.

But AFP previously debunked posts that misrepresented the clip in 2019.

A reverse image search using keyframes from the falsely shared video and subsequent keyword searches led to the same footage published on the verified Facebook account of Indian media organisation Bangalore Mirror on February 20, 2019 (archived link).

Bangalore Mirror reported a student named Chethan Kumar comforted the pilot, who was injured after two aircraft collided mid-air during a rehearsal for the 12th edition of the Aero India show on February 19, 2019 (archived here and here ).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (L) and the Bangalore Mirror video

Karavali TV published the same footage on YouTube on February 19, 2019 (archived link).

Kumar also spoke to Indian outlet The Quint about the incident (archived link).

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

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail