A collage with the photos of an aircraft crash is being shared on social media claiming that one of the new Rafale fighter jets owned India crashed during the training session and 2 pilots inside the aircraft had died in this incident. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: One of the new Rafale fighter jets owned by India crashed during the training session.
Fact: Photos in the post show the debris of IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jet that crashed on ’01 February 2019’ near HAL airport in Bengaluru. These photos have nothing to do with the new Rafale fighter jets inducted recently by the Government of India. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Photo-1:
On reverse image search, a similar photo was found in an article published by ‘ International Bussiness Times’ news website on ‘01 February 2019’. In the article, it is mentioned as the debris of IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jet that crashed near Bengaluru’s HAL airport on ‘01 February 2019’. It is reported in the article that 2 pilots inside the fighter jet died in this accident. The same photo was shared in an article published by ‘The Print’ news website on ‘20 March 2019’ while reporting the outcome of the investigation of IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jet crash near HAL airport in Bengaluru.
Photo-2:
On reverse image search, a similar photo was found in an article published by ‘Hindustan Times’ news website on ‘ 07 February 2020’. In the article, it is mentioned as the photo related to the IAF Mirage fighter Jet crash in Bengaluru on ’01 February 2019’. The same photo was also found in ‘The Indian Express’ article reporting about the IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jet crash in Bengaluru.
Photo-3:
On reverse image search, a similar photo was found in an article published by ‘The Print’ news website on ‘09 February 2019’. This photo was also described as the debris of IAF Mirage 2000 aircraft that crashed in Bengaluru on ‘01 February 2020’. The same photo can also be seen in ‘Outlook India’ Magazine that reported this incident.
From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that photos shared in the post are related to the IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jet crash near HAL airport in Bengaluru during 2019 and have nothing to do with the new Rafale jets inducted into the Indian Air Force recently.
To sum it up, old photos related to the IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jet crash in Bengaluru are falsely portrayed as the new Rafale Jet crash during a training session.
