Fact Check: Final moments of Ahmedabad plane crash go viral? No, video shows Nepal plane crash in 2023

Hyderabad: In a devastating aviation tragedy, an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon. The aircraft, bound for London-Gatwick, lost contact within minutes and went down in the densely populated Meghaninagar area, triggering a massive explosion and fire.

Meanwhile, a video circulating on social media shows a man in a yellow outfit filming the view outside from inside an aircraft. He then pans the camera towards himself and his co-passengers, followed by visuals of sudden commotion, fire, and reportedly the plane crash. Those sharing the footage claim it to be a live recording from inside the Ahmedabad plane moments before the tragedy.

One X user shared the video with the caption, “Live video of Ahmedabad plane crash.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video shows a crash in Nepal in 2023.

A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led us to a report published by OccupyGh.com, a Ghana-based website, on January 17, 2023. The report, titled “Nepal Plane Crash: Facebook Live Captures Terrifying Final Seconds of the Plane Crash,” features images showing the same man in a yellow outfit and visuals identical to those in the viral video.

According to the report, the incident occurred on January 15, 2023, when an ATR 72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines crashed while attempting to land in Pokhara, Nepal, killing all 72 people on board. The report also noted that it remains the deadliest accident involving an ATR 72 aircraft.

The report also included an X post, dated January 17, 2023, featuring the viral video along with a screengrab of the man in the yellow outfit.

The media outlet The Star, reporting on the incident on January 17, 2023, stated that an Indian passenger live-streamed the final moments before the plane crashed in the city of Pokhara, Nepal. The report features the cover image taken from a screengrab of the viral video.

On January 17, 2023, Jagran reported that four of the five Indian nationals who died in the Yeti Airlines ATR‑72 crash in Pokhara were livestreaming the flight’s final moments on Facebook just before it plunged. The report notes that the cover image is from the viral video, capturing the man in a yellow outfit filming inside the plane.

Therefore, we conclude that the video shows a plane crash in Nepal in 2023, not the Ahmedabad plane crash. The claim is false.