Plane Crash

Does a viral image actually show a U.S. Army helicopter that crashed in Iran on April 3, 2026? No, that's not true: The picture was online more than a year earlier. It was published in Honduras in March 2025. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published by the @TheLaikYobaz account on X on April 3, 2026.…

Were the pilots of the Air Canada plane that crashed into a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport both females? No, that's not true: The pilot and co-pilot killed in the ground collision have been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther. The FAA administrator described the two as "young men at the start of their careers" during a March 23,…

Did the White House post an alert that all flights were grounded, airspace was restricted and the National Guard had been activated on Feb. 6, 2026? No, that's not true: Nothing on the White House website, the FAA alert history or in real news reporting shows any such actions were taken. The hoax has circulated through traffic farming accounts and…

Did a California aquarium collapse, killing 50 people, as was claimed in a viral Instagram reel? No, that's not true: A disaster of that magnitude and novelty would have been a worldwide news story and there is no record of such an event in news publications in or out of California. The Instagram account that posted the video consists of…

Does a viral image show the site of the July 21, 2025, military training plane crash in Dhaka, Bangladesh? No, that's not true: The social media image contradicted what was shown in footage and photographs published by credible media outlets. Authentic visual materials showed that most of the plane's fuselage was obscured from cameras by the debris. The claim appeared…

Does a viral video show a July 13, 2025, plane crash at London Southend Airport? No, that's not true: The footage predates it. It captures an airshow in South Africa that resulted in one plane hitting the ground and killing the pilot. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on July 13, 2025. It opened: The…

Did a video show passengers on board an Air India flight as it crashed in June 2025? No, that's not true: The clip was in fact recorded on board a plane that crashed after leaving Kathmandu, Nepal, in January 2023. On June 12, 2025, a London-bound Air India flight with 242 people on board crashed shortly after leaving Ahmedabad airport…

Does a viral video show "Pakistan F-16 jets" shot down by India in April 2025? No, that's not true: Social media posts recycled old footage from 2024. When it was initially uploaded online, the captions discussed a Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jet crash, not a military operation using American made F-16 jets. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Was the plane that crashed in the parking lot of a retirement facility near the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Airport a "modified Cessna Golden Eagle" registered to a "shell company in Delaware" named Echelon Air Logistics? No, that's not true: The plane that crashed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, March 9, 2025, was a Beechcraft A36TC with the registration number N347M. This…

Was Delta Flight 4819, which crashed upon landing in Toronto, piloted by a female-only crew? No, that's not true: Delta referred to the flight captain as "he" in a statement on the company website, and the first officer as "she." In an audio recording of Air Traffic Control correspondence during the flight's landing and subsequent crash, the voices of what…