The Israel–Iran war, which began on February 28, 2026 with joint US–Israeli strikes on Iranian targets, triggered missile exchanges and regional escalation. A fragile US–Iran ceasefire is now in place, but Israel continues attacks on Iran-backed groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Recent strikes, including in Beirut, caused heavy casualties, and tensions remain high with warnings the war could resume anytime.
In the above context, a video of a helicopter crashing to the ground has gone viral. Those sharing the video claim it shows a US Black Hawk helicopter being shot down during a rescue mission for American pilots whose aircraft had allegedly been targeted by Iran.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “A Black Hawk helicopter conducting a search flight to rescue pilots ejected from a US aircraft shot down by Iran was also shot down.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from 2025 and shows a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Honduras.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by the Instagram page of The Firstpost on March 14, 2025.
The caption reads, “The US ambassador to Honduras said that a US military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter made an emergency landing near the Soto Cano Air Base on March 5. The helicopter from the Joint Task Force-Bravo (JTFB) had five people aboard and all escaped unharmed.”
We further found that the screenshot of the viral video was also shared by ESTEEMStream.News on March 14, 2025. The report suggests that a US Army Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk crashed in Honduras on March 5, 2025, during a precautionary emergency landing near Soto Cano Air Base. The helicopter, on a routine training mission, sustained significant damage, but all five crew members survived without serious injuries. The incident followed another Black Hawk crash earlier in the year and was part of over 13 aviation accidents reported in 2025. An investigation is ongoing.
The incident was also reported by Interesting Engineering on March 5, 2025.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.