On 09 July 2025, an Indian Air Force Jaguar trainer jet crashed during a routine training sortie near Churu in Rajasthan, killing both pilots. The aircraft took off from Suratgarh and went down in a field near Bhanoda village. Eyewitnesses reported a loud explosion and found scattered debris and remains. One pilot is believed to have steered the jet away from the town to avoid civilian casualties. The IAF confirmed the crash and ordered a court of inquiry to determine the cause.
In this context, several visuals are being shared on social media claiming to show the recent IAF jet crash that took place in Churu, Rajasthan. Let’s verify the claims made in the posts in this article.
Claim: The visuals show the debris of Jaguar IAF fighter jet that went down in Churu, Rajasthan, on 09 July 2025.
Fact: The visuals shared are old and unrelated to the 09 July 2025 Jaguar crash in Churu, Rajasthan. The first photo is from a MiG-21 crash that occurred in May 2023 in Hanumangarh. The second photo shows wreckage from a Mirage and Sukhoi crash in January 2023 in Morena. The third photo is from a Hawk trainer jet crash that took place in June 2015 in Baripada. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
Photo 1
This post (here, here), featuring a collage of two photos, claims to show the 09 July 2025 IAF jet crash in Churu, Rajasthan.
To verify the first photo, which shows a huge crowd at an accident site, we performed a Google Lens search using a screenshot of the viral photo. This led us to several news reports (here, here, and here) from May 2023 featuring the same photo, confirming that it is unrelated to the 09 July 2025 Jaguar trainer jet crash. According to these reports, the photo is from a MiG-21 fighter jet crash that occurred on 08 May 2023 during a routine training sortie from the Suratgarh Air Force Station in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan. The pilot reported a technical issue shortly after takeoff and tried to steer the jet away from populated areas, but the crash resulted in the deaths of three civilians. Following the incident, the IAF grounded its MiG-21 fleet for checks as per standard procedure.
Photo 2
To verify the second photo, which shows the wreckage of an aircraft, we again did a Google Lens search using a screenshot of the viral photo. This led us to several news reports (here, here, and here) from January 2023 featuring the same photo, confirming that it is unrelated to the 09 July 2025 Jaguar trainer jet crash. According to these reports, two fighter jets, a Mirage-2000 and a Sukhoi Su-30, crashed during a routine operational training mission in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. The Indian Air Force recovered the black box of the Mirage-2000 and part of the flight data recorder. The crash resulted in the death of Mirage pilot Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi, while both Sukhoi pilots ejected safely and were hospitalised with minor injuries.
Photo 3
This post (here, here) featuring a photo of a crashed plane claims that it is from the 09 July 2025 IAF jet crash in Churu, Rajasthan.
To verify the claim, we did a Google Lens search using a screenshot of the viral photo. This led us to several news reports (here, here, and here) from June 2015 featuring the same photo, confirming that it is unrelated to the 09 July 2025 Jaguar trainer jet crash. According to these reports, an advanced trainer aircraft had crashed in Baripada, Odisha, on 3 June 2015, during a routine training sortie. The jet had taken off from the Kalaikunda Air Base and was airborne for around 35 minutes, covering a distance of approximately 50 kilometres before it went down due to a mid-air technical glitch. The aircraft was identified as a Hawk advanced jet trainer. Both pilots managed to eject safely before the crash and sustained injuries. The Indian Air Force later confirmed that a technical malfunction had occurred mid-flight, leading to the accident.
To sum up, old, unrelated visuals are shared as the 09 July 2025 IAF Jaguar crash in Churu, Rajasthan.
