Fact Check: Tejas fighter jet sent to Dubai Airshow without clearance? No, journalists’ videos are AI-manipulated
Videos of journalists Palki Sharma and Abhishek Sengupta have been circulating, claiming that both reported that the Tejas fighter jet was sent to the Dubai Airshow despite a known technical issue and without clearance.
By - Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:Palki Sharma of Firstpost and NDTV’s Abhishek Sengupta reported that the Tejas fighter jet was sent to the Dubai Airshow despite a known technical issue and without clearance.
Fact:The claims are false. Both videos are manipulated by merging AI-generated audio.
Hyderabad: The crash of the Tejas fighter jet and the death of the pilot during the Dubai Airshow on November 21 have become a major talking point.
In this context, videos of Firstpost journalist Palki Sharma and NDTV’s Abhishek Sengupta have been circulating on social media. The videos allegedly show them claiming that the Tejas was sent to the airshow despite known technical issues and without proper clearance.
Here’s an analysis of both videos to understand their authenticity.
Sharma’s video
In the video, Sharma could be heard allegedly saying, “Welcome back. We continue our coverage of today’s tragic incident in Dubai. The big question now is why were the Tejas aircraft sent to the Dubai show despite known technical issues and previous rejection by the Air Force? What led to a decision that has now resulted in a major embarrassment for the nation? Who will be held accountable?”
An X user, Zeeshan Alam, operating from a Pakistani account, shared the video with the caption, “Tejas, once showcased as a symbol of national pride, has now become a point of embarrassment for India after the Dubai incident. Indian media is questioning why the jet was sent despite earlier concerns raising doubts about its performance and the decision that led to this situation. (sic)” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video had been manipulated using AI.
Original video
A reverse image search of the video’s keyframe led us to the original report published by Firstpost on November 20, titled, ‘Trump Claims He Threatened 350% Tariffs to End India-Pak Conflict.’
In her program, Vantage, Sharma discussed a range of global headlines and in-depth reports.
Major topics included Donald Trump’s repeated, unsubstantiated claims about brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan using threats of 350 per cent tariffs, the subsequent complexities in India-US trade and defence relations, and volatile global financial markets reacting to chipmaker Nvidia’s strong earnings, which temporarily eased fears of an AI bubble.
She also discussed the emerging role of West Asia as a new battleground for AI domination, the latest projections for the Indian stock market, and other geopolitical developments. However, we found no mention of the Tejas in her report, and notably, this video predates the Dubai crash.
Inconsistencies in the video
We compared the viral clip with the original video and noticed discrepancies in the face colour, facial expression and unnatural lip movements, suggesting digital manipulation.
Tool analysis
After extracting the audio from the video, we subjected it to analysis on the AI-detection tool Deepfake-O-Meter. Two of its detectors concluded that the audio is likely AI-generated, with confidence scores of 100 and 85.6 per cent, respectively.
Sengupta’s video
In the video, NDTV’s Sengupta could be heard allegedly saying, “We are investigating the shocking reason behind the Tejas jet crash at the Dubai Air Show. A major revelation has emerged. An internal report claims the jet was not cleared to fly, yet it took off. This begs the burning question: who put the pressure from the top on the chain? Who is the powerful hand that forced this take-off, leading to this national embarrassment? Whether it is a pilot error or no pilot error, but this one thing that has emerged is very big.”
An X account based in South Asia shared the video (post withheld but accessible with a VPN) with the caption, “Breaking: NDTV World accidentally told the truth. The jet was not technically cleared to fly, but Delhi’s ‘photo-op commandos’ forced it into the air anyway. India gambled with human life, a criminal negligence at a national level. The clip vanished minutes after airing.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the video has also been manipulated using AI.
Original video
We ran a keyword search for NDTV reports claiming that the jet was not cleared to fly, but found no such report. However, we did come across Abhishek Sengupta’s ground report published by NDTV World on X on November 21.
In the report, Sengupta narrates the tragic event in which a Tejas aircraft crashed at approximately 2:15 pm local time during the aerobatics performance at the Dubai Airshow. The incident, which occurred barely 300 meters from the runway, resulted in the death of the pilot. Following the crash, flying operations at the major global aviation summit were temporarily suspended for about ninety minutes before resuming. However, we found no statement from him claiming that the jet was not technically cleared to fly, as alleged in the viral video.
Discrepancies in the video
On comparing the viral clip with the original, the most noticeable difference is in Sengupta’s English accent, which is different from other videos of him.
What did the Deepfake-O-Meter analysis conclude?
Three of its detectors found that the audio is likely AI-generated, with confidence scores of 94.5, 100 and 99.8 per cent, respectively.
Therefore, we conclude that both Palki Sharma and Abhishek Sengupta’s videos have been manipulated by merging AI-generated audio. The claims are false.
