Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian and one Nepali citizen, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of 07 May 2025. The Indian government stated that the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure at nine locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, emphasising that no Pakistani military installations were struck. It described the strikes as focused, measured, and non-escalatory. Citing military sources, media reports indicated that at least 80 terrorists were killed during the operation. However, Pakistan stated that at least 26 civilians were killed and 46 others injured in the missile strikes. In response, cross-border shelling by Pakistani forces reportedly led to the deaths of at least 9 civilians and injuries to 38 others in Jammu and Kashmir.
Amidst these developments, several videos are going viral on social media claiming to show injured Indian Air Force commanders whose fighter jets were shot down by Pakistan. Let’s verify the truth behind these videos in this article.
Claim: The visuals show injured Indian Air Force commanders whose fighter jets were shot down by Pakistan.
Fact: The viral videos either predate or are unrelated to the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. They have no connection to the ongoing conflict between the two countries following the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April 2025. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Update (13 May 2025):
Visual 3
The video claims to show visuals of a crash involving an Indian Air Force Rafale fighter jet that was shot down by Pakistan during a clash between India and Pakistan.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to multiple news reports from March 2025 featuring the same visuals(her, here, here, and here), which confirms that the viral video predates the India–Pakistan conflict that began after the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April 2025. According to reports, on 07 March 2025, an Indian Air Force Jaguar fighter jet crashed near Raipur Rani in Haryana during a routine training sortie due to a technical malfunction. The pilot ejected safely and was later taken for a medical check-up. The aircraft had taken off from the Ambala airbase. The IAF reportedly confirmed the crash and ordered an inquiry.
Additionally, the Government of India’s fact-checking unit, PIB Fact Check, dismissed the viral claim as fake in a post on X dated 10 May 2025. They clarified that the video shows a Jaguar aircraft of the Indian Air Force that crashed in Ambala during a routine training sortie in March 2025.
Published (08 May 2025):
Visual 1
This video is being shared with the claim that it shows injured Indian Air Force commanders whose fighter jets were shot down by Pakistan following India’s Operation Sindoor. The posts also suggest that the operation cost India six fighter jets, eight drones, fifty-two soldiers, a brigade headquarters, and twenty-two border posts, claiming that Pakistan destroyed all of them.
To verify the claim, we conducted a Google keyword search. However, as of the time of writing this article, no official information or credible reports have been found. Given the importance of the issue & the claim, it is expected that mainstream media would have reported on it, but no such coverage was available.
We then performed a reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video, which led us to a news report published by the India Today YouTube channel on 06 February 2025. The video, titled Indian Air Force Fighter Jet Crashes in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri, Both Pilots Safe, clearly predates Operation Sindoor, which occurred on 07 May 2025. Therefore, the video is unrelated to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. According to reports, an Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, during a test flight from Gwalior Air Force Base. Both pilots ejected safely and were subsequently evacuated for medical treatment. The crash took place in the remote village of Kareera. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the crash, with initial reports indicating a potential technical malfunction.
We also found that the viral video was taken from a Facebook post by Aaj Tak on 07 February 2025. Aaj Tak reported that the incident occurred in Bahreta Sani village of Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, when an IAF Mirage-2000 crashed in a field.
Additionally, we found an X post dated 7 May 2025 by PIB Fact Check dismissing the claim as fake. The post stated that Pakistani accounts were sharing a video of a crash, falsely claiming that Pakistan had shot down another Indian fighter jet. PIB Fact Check also confirmed, in line with media reports, that the video being circulated is from February 2025 and shows the crash of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 aircraft near Shivpuri, Gwalior, during a routine training mission.
Visual 2
This video is being shared with the claim that an Indian pilot was injured after the Pakistan Army successfully shot down his fighter jet. The post further suggests that this incident stands as proof of Pakistan’s air defence capabilities.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to multiple social media posts (here and here) featuring the same video from February 2019. This clearly indicates that the video is unrelated to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.
We conducted a Google keyword search using terms related to a fighter jet commander being injured in February 2019. This led us to multiple reports from that time (here, here, and here) featuring the same viral video. According to these reports, the video shows the aftermath of a mid-air collision involving two Surya Kiran jets at the Yelahanka Airbase in Bengaluru on 19 February 2019, during rehearsals for Aero India. One pilot lost his life in the crash, while two others sustained injuries. Residents were seen helping one of the injured pilots immediately after the incident, which occurred just outside the Yelahanka Air Force Station.
To sum up, old, unrelated videos are falsely shared as those of injured Indian Air Force commanders whose jets were allegedly shot down by Pakistan.
