Fact Check: Viral Video Claiming to Show Final Moments of Air India Ahmedabad Crash is Misleading

Meanwhile, social media platforms have been flooded with several old and misleading images and videos. One such video, showing the plane cabin completely filled with smoke leading to panic among the passengers, is in circulation with the claim that it shows the final moments of the Air India flight just before the devastating mishap.

The video is shared with the caption: “Air India inside crashing situation of passengers #viralvideoシ #yesterday #airplane #AirIndia #london #ahmedabad #crashed @highlight Highlights E V E R Y T H I N G E X P L O R E”

Here is the archive link of the claim.

The claim is misleading.

When we extracted keyframes from the viral video and searched them using Google reverse image search, we found that the video was in circulation in the year 2023. An Instagram account named *servicestourismes* shared the same video on August 28, 2023, with the caption that the plane’s air conditioning broke during the journey.

Another post shared on X on March 18, 2023, with a caption in the Turkish language, stated that the incident took place on a Ryanair B737 aircraft and made the passengers uneasy. The ventilation system should bring the air temperature much lower than the dew point. In this way, not all the steam is absorbed by the system, and the rest enters the environment with the cold air.

We also found a Facebook post published on January 21, 2020, sharing the same video with the caption: “Ryanair crew declared Mayday, reporting smoke in the cabin on a 737-800. Boeing 737-800 EI-EVH flight FR-1006 21JAN2020 Bucharest to London Stansted, with 169 people on board, was in the initial climb out of Otopeni, Romania's airport. The aircraft stopped the climb at 5000 feet, and a few minutes later, advised that the situation on board was improving. The aircraft entered a hold to burn off fuel and returned to Otopeni for a safe landing on runway 26R about one hour after departure. Serial number 40290 LN:3938. Type 737-8AS. First flight date 09/02/2012. Test registration. Plane age 7.9 years.”

Based on this post, when we searched for reports with the keywords “Ryanair plane filled with smoke + 2020,” we found reports published on independent websites stating that terrified passengers could be heard screaming and crying when thick smoke filled the cabin of the Ryanair plane mid-flight. Smoke began to flood the packed cabin just moments after the Boeing 737-800 took off from the Romanian capital of Bucharest, climbing thousands of feet into the air.

According to metro.co.uk, which shared the screenshots from the viral video, passengers could be heard screaming and crying in footage filmed moments after a Ryanair plane suddenly filled with thick smoke. The flight from Bucharest to London was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff when smoke flooded the cabin. There were 169 passengers and four crew members on board the Boeing 737-800 from the Romanian capital when it was forced to return to Henri Coanda International Airport. Passengers were evacuated and screened by medics after getting off the plane and were reportedly ‘scared but otherwise unharmed.’

This claim was debunked by a few fact-checking organisations.

Therefore, the viral video does not show the final moments of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It shows an incident when an airplane belonging to Ryanair was filled with thick smoke. The plane later landed safely, and the passengers were evacuated. The claim is misleading.