Picture shows US army helicopter wreckage in Honduras, not footage from Iran
- Published on April 8, 2026 at 07:45
- Updated on April 8, 2026 at 09:57
- 2 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand
After Iran claimed in April 2026 that it had shot down US military aircraft during a rescue mission, an image circulated online purporting to show a downed American helicopter in Iranian territory. However, AFP found it predates the US operation and actually shows a US Army Black Hawk chopper after an emergency landing in Honduras in 2025.
"A report says that a Black Hawk helicopter, which was conducting a search-and-rescue mission for the pilots of an American aircraft shot down by Iran, was also shot down," reads a Thai-language Facebook post on April 4, 2026.
It goes on to say: "If this situation continues, the US Air Force will be left with no aircraft or helicopters at all."
The post shares an image of a helicopter grounded in a woodland area, as firefighters inspect the wreckage.
On April 8, US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire barely an hour ahead of Donald Trump's Wednesday deadline to obliterate the country, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz (archived link).
The image was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook as well as posts in Hindi and Chinese.
It circulated after Iran announced on April 3 that it had shot down a US warplane sent to rescue the crew of a fighter jet that had crashed in the country's southwest (archived link).
US officials later confirmed an F-15 had been brought down and described a large-scale operation to recover its crew.
AFP also reported that US forces mounted a complex rescue mission involving special operations troops and air support, while Iran said the operation was "foiled" and claimed multiple US aircraft were destroyed (archived link).
Top US military officer General Dan Caine said on April 6 two crew members of the downed aircraft were recovered and "back in friendly territory" after 50 hours of high-risk operation (archived link).
He went on to say one helicopter sent as part of the rescue operation was hit and the crew sustained minor injuries but "are going to be fine."
However, the circulating image is unrelated to the Iran war.
Helicopter in Honduras
A reverse image search on Google led AFP to the same image published on March 5, 2025 by the Aviation Safety Network, a website that tracks aviation incidents (archived link).
It says that the picture shows a damaged US Army Black Hawk helicopter after an emergency landing near Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, while all personnel onboard only suffered minor injuries.
Using a keyword search, AFP found additional footage from different angles showing the same aircraft (archived here and here).
The videos' captions said the US military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which had five people on board, made an emergency landing near the Soto Cano Air Base.
The Honduran Fire Department also posted a video on its official Facebook page on the same day, showing the same helicopter on the ground (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation stemming from the Middle East war.
Updates headline with more detail, adds paragraph with background on US-Iran ceasefire dealApril 8, 2026 Updates headline with more detail, adds paragraph with background on US-Iran ceasefire deal
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