Old, Unrelated Visuals Falsely Linked To Russian Plane Crash

An Angara Airlines plane crashed in a dense forest in the far-eastern Amur region of Russia on Thursday (July 24), killing all the 48 people, including six crew members, on board. The aircraft reportedly left Blagoveshchensk close to the Chinese border and vanished from radar as it approached Tynda airport. A Russian civil aviation helicopter later found a burning fuselage from the plane on a remote hillside about 16kms from Tynda.

Shortly after the news broke, several social media users shared images and videos  purportedly linked to the plane crash in Russia. Newschecker investigated two such visuals and found them to be old and unrelated to the recent aircraft tragedy. 

A photo allegedly showing onlookers surrounding the wreckage of the Angara Airlines aircraft that recently crashed in Russia has gone viral on social media platforms. 

Such posts can be seen here, here and here. 

We looked up the viral image on Google Lens which led us to a report by Reuters, dated May 23, 2010, featuring photos from the site of an Air India Express plane crash in Mangalore. It carried the viral photo with the caption, “Onlookers and firefighters stand at the site of the crashed Air India Express passenger plane in Mangalore airport May 22, 2010.”

Also Read: ‘Udaipur Files’ Actor’s House Set Ablaze? No, Viral Video Is Of Unrelated Incident In Colombia

Carrying the same image, a report by The Guardian, dated May 22, 2010, also detailed the Air India Express aircraft accident in Mangalore, and stated that over 150 people were killed after a Boeing 737-800 “overshot a “tabletop” runway in pre-monsoon rains and plunged into the jungle, breaking in two and bursting into flames.”

The Air India Express flight was arriving from Dubai with 160 passengers and six crew members on board, when it missed the touchdown area at the 8,000-feet ‘table top’ runway at Mangalore’s Bajpe airport leading to the crash. Only eight people reportedly survived the crash. 

Hence, we find that an old photo from an aircraft mishap in India has been falsely shared to show the wreckage of the Antonov An-24 plane that crashed in Russia on July 24.

A video showing a plane traversing through a waterlogged runway is being widely linked to the recent aviation mishap in Russia.

News major Times Now also shared the video on Instagram with a caption, “A Russian passenger plane carrying 49 people, including five children, crashed near Tynda in the Far East…All passengers and crew are feared dead in the devastating crash caught partly on video.” 

On carefully analysing the viral clip, we noticed that the plane seemed to have landed safely without any visible damage. Further, the Russian aircraft crashed in a dense forest, contradicting the landscape seen in the viral footage, raising our doubts.

We then looked up the keyframes of the viral clip on Google Lens which led us to an X post by @Combat_learjet, dated December 22, 2024. It featured the same video of an aircraft landing on a waterlogged runway, confirming that it predates the recent crash. 

A YouTube post by ‘SSGTV News: South Sudan Global’ dated March 29, 2023, also featured the viral clip, to show the condition of the Juba International Airport in South Sudan after rains.

We were not independently able to ascertain other details about the video, however, it has been available online since at least March 2023, and hence does not show the Angara Airlines plane crash in Russia’s Amur region.

Also Read: Has Yemen Commuted Kerala Nurse Nimisha Priya’s Death Sentence?

Conclusion 

Hence, we find that old and unrelated visuals have been falsely linked to the recent aircraft crash in Russia. 

Sources
Report By Reuters, Dated May 23, 2010
Report By The Guardian, Dated May 22, 2010
Report By NDTV, Dated May 22, 2010
X Post By @Combat_learjet, Dated December 22, 2024
YouTube Video By SSGTV News: South Sudan Global, Dated March 29, 2023