Fact Check: Ahmedabad plane crash – final videos show turbulence, faulty AC? No, find the facts here
Two videos, one showing air conditioning failure and the other capturing turbulence inside an aircraft, are being linked to the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The videos show air conditioning failure and passengers panicking before the crash of Air India Flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad.
Fact:The claim is false. Both videos are old; one shows air conditioning failure on an Air India Express flight, while the other captures turbulence aboard an IndiGo flight.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad: In the context of Air India Flight AI 171, a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner, tragically crashing in Ahmedabad on June 12, several videos are being shared, purportedly showing passengers complaining about an air conditioning failure and experiencing turbulence.
Video 1
A video showing passengers onboard a flight complaining about air conditioning failure and fanning themselves with safety instruction booklets is circulating on social media, with the claim that it was recorded aboard Air India Flight AI 171 shortly before the crash.
The video was shared on X with the caption, “This video is being said to be before the Air India AI-171 plane crash. What is the condition of Indian airplanes?” (Archive)
In the video, one of the passengers can be heard saying, “This is the condition of Air India Express.”
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The plane in the video is Air India Express, not the flight Air India 171, a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner. Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India.
We first verified what the passenger said about the flight being an Air India Express jet. Upon analysis, we saw a logo on the seat headrest. We compared the design with the official Air India Express logo and the Air India logo.
This proved that the flight in the video is not Air India Flight 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad, but an Air India Express flight.
Further, we came across a blog uploaded on January 24, in which a man shared his in-flight experience while travelling on Air India flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.
We closely examined the interiors of the flight featured in the blog and found notable differences from the viral video. The seat colour in the blog video is in shades of red, whereas in the viral video, the seats appear bluish. The aircraft in the blog appears larger, featuring the typical 3-3-3 economy configuration with two aisles, as seen in a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. In contrast, the viral video shows a 3-3 seating layout with a single aisle, indicating a smaller aircraft.
We also reviewed the detailed seat map of the Air India Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner published on the website Aerolopa. The layout clearly shows a 3-3-3 configuration for economy class and a 2-2-2 configuration for business class.
This proved that the flight in the video is not Air India Flight 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad.
Video 2
Another video showing turbulence filmed inside an aircraft, featuring a panicked man calling out for God’s help, is also circulating on social media, with the claim that it captures the terrifying moments before the Ahmedabad-to-London Air India flight crash.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “The horrific scene before the plane crash of a plane going from Ahmedabad to London.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as this video shows an IndiGo flight facing turbulence.
In the video, we noticed the tagline ‘How Time Flies’ displayed on the seat headrest, a phrase used by IndiGo to mark its anniversary milestones. This confirmed that the video shows the interior of an IndiGo flight, not Air India Flight AI 171.
We also found that the video has been on Instagram and YouTube at least since May 21, predating the Air India Flight AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12.
NewsMeter could not independently verify the source or timing of the viral videos. However, based on our findings, we confirm that neither video depicts moments before the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. The claim is false.
