In light of the sudden demise of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, a few videos (here, here, and here) are being widely shared on social media claiming that these are from the crash that killed CDS Rawat. Through this article let’s fact-check the authenticity of these visuals.
Claim: Visuals showing helicopter crash that killed CDS General Bipin Rawat.
Fact: These visuals have nothing to do with the helicopter crash that killed General Rawat. One of these viral videos is related to an incident of Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopter crash landing that happened in Arunachal Pradesh last month, while the other is related to the incident in which a government helicopter was shot down by Islamic militants in Syria last year. The image shows an Indian Army’s Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) which had made an emergency landing in Poonch, JK back in October 2019.’ Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) was killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu. No video of the crash landing has been reported so far. A video reportedly shot by some locals which shows the helicopter moments before the crash has surfaced today and been reported by news agencies.
These visuals are related to an incident of a helicopter crash landing that happened last month. Reverse image search of the viral video yielded multiple news reports which reported the same visuals. As per these reports, these visuals show the crash landing of the Indian Air Force Mi-17 at Roccham helipad in Arunachal’s Anjaw district on 18 November 2021.
Back then, multiple news agencies reported the incident and this video in particular. Another news report which identifies the video as an incident of crash landing in Arunachal Pradesh can be seen here.
These visuals have nothing to do with India. Reverse image search of the screenshots of this viral video yielded multiple news reports which reported the same visuals back in February 2020. As per these reports, the visuals show the burning wreckage of a Syrian government helicopter shot down by the Islamist militants in Idlib province.
Multiple news agencies have reported the incident back then, these reports can be seen here and here. Few other visuals of the incident can be seen here.
This image shows Indian Army’s Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) which had made an emergency landing in Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir back in October 2019. Reverse image search yielded multiple news reports which reported the same image back then. One such news article reported, ‘A helicopter with Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on-board has executed a forced landing on account of technical snag in general area of Poonch. All crew and passengers are safe.’
Few more visuals of the incident can be seen here. Another news report related to the incident which published a similar image can be read here.
To sum it up, old and unrelated visuals are being shared as those from the helicopter crash that killed General Bipin Rawat.
