E-Paper
Fact Check: This video is going viral with a claim that it shows China plane crash. Here’s the truth behind it
After a China Eastern Airlines aircraft crashed in southern China on Monday, a video is going viral with a claim that it shows the “last moment recorded on the plane”. This video and the claim shared with it, however, are false.
An aircraft with 132 people on board crashed in a mountainous area of southern China on Monday. The news sent shock-waves across the world and soon social media was flooded with posts about the incident. Amidst this, a video with a claim that it shows the “last moment recorded on the plane” also began circulating online. This video and the claim shared with it, however, are false.
Claim: Here’s one such post with the video and the claim. “A Boeing 737 just crashed in southern China. This was one of the last moment recorded on the plane. maybe the only moment. Viewers’ discretion advised. #planecrash #Boeing #China,” reads the tweet shared along with a video.
Take a look at the entire share below:
Posted on March 21, the tweet has collected more than 200 retweets so far.
However, the video is not related to the recent plane crash in China and the claim shared with it is false. The clip is actually from a video simulation of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed on March 10, 2019.
Investigation: While watching the video, it becomes clear that it is a simulation and not an actual video recorded inside the plane.
One can also see a logo on the plane in the video.
A quick search on Google makes it clear that the logo actually belongs to Ethiopian Airlines while the plane that crashed on Monday was a China Eastern Airlines plane.
Upon searching the keywords “Ethiopian Airlines crash simulation” on YouTube, we landed on a video in which we found the clip that is going viral.
“Ethiopia Plane Crash, Ethiopia Airlines B737 MAX Crashes After Takeoff, Addis Ababa Airport [XP11],” reads the caption of this video that was posted on March 11, 2019.
Skip to around 9.21 minutes in the video below to see the viral clip that is circulating online now:
In the description for the video on YouTube, it reads: “This is not exactly what happened, this is only a simulated flight crash for Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302.”
According to the BBC, the Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed shortly after taking-off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on March 10, 2019. The flight, with 157 people on board, had no survivors.
Conclusion: Hence, the video is a simulation and is being circulated with a false claim.
