On May 1, Pakistan claimed that its Air Force intercepted and forced four Indian Rafale jets to retreat near the Line of Control following a 2 am war alert. This incident heightened tensions between the two nations after the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22. Pakistan denied involvement in the attack, while India accused Pakistan-backed terrorists.
In the above context, a video has been going viral on social media in which smoke can be seen rising from a residential area while people around are panicking.
The video is shared with a caption claiming that the video is from Pakistan’s Karachi, where the Pakistan Air Force has shot down one of its commercial flights.
A social media post read, “A passenger plane was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force near Karachi airport. The plane hit a residential area, and almost 100 people were onboard. #planecrash #PIACrash #PahalgamTerroristAttack #Pahalgam #PahalgamAttack”
SouthCheck found that the claim is misleading. The video is old and shows a plane crash due to an accident in Karachi.
On a Google reverse image search, we found the same video was uploaded on YouTube on May 22, 2020. The video was shared with a caption that suggested that a passenger plane of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), A-320, crashed near Karachi airport. The plane was flying from Karachi to Lahore and was carrying 90 passengers.
The incident was also reported by India TV on May 22, 2020. The report stated that the PIA aircraft that crashed was an A320 carrying close to 100 people. The aircraft crashed near a residential colony near Karachi airport.
We found a news report that gave the cause of the incident. Another report by Times Now World published on May 24, 2024, stated that the Karachi plane crash was due to human error. The pilots disregarded air traffic control warnings about excessive altitude, attempted landing without deploying landing gear, and failed to communicate effectively. Both engines failed after striking the runway, leading to the crash that killed 99 people.
Therefore, we can ascertain that the viral video is old.
