Photos of 2018 crash passed off as recent plane crash in Nepal

Hyderabad: A collage of two photos of a plane crash is being widely shared on social media with the claim that it shows the recent plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal.

The claim comes after a Yeti Airlines flight with 72 people on board from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara in Nepal crashed before catching fire on 15 January. As per media reports, at least 70 passengers died in the crash.

Actor and politician Jaya Prada shared the collage expressing grief at the tragic accident.

Click here to see the post.

(Click here, here, and here to view the posts.)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that both photos date back to 2018 and are of a plane crash in Nepal.

On performing a reverse image search of the first photo, we found it in a report published by Channels TV on 12 March 2018. It said in Nepal’s worst plane crash, at least 40 people were killed and 23 injured after a Bangladeshi plane crashed and caught fire near Kathmandu airport on 12 March 2018.

We also found the photo on Alamy. According to the caption, the incident took place on 12 March 2018 when a US-Bangla Airlines aircraft carrying 71 people flying from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed while landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal.

A reverse image search of the second photo led us to an article by The Times of India from 13 March 2018. It said, on 12 March 2018, a Dhaka to Kathmandu US-Bangla Airlines flight caught fire after it got off the runway into a football ground near the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal.

BBC, in 2019, reported that the crash happened after the pilot had an “emotional breakdown.” The BBC report carries the same photo.

It is evident that the two photos date back to 2018 and show the Dhaka to Kathmandu US-Bangla Airlines aircraft that crashed in Kathmandu on 12 March 2018.