An old image from Kerala of an Air India Express plane split open is viral with a false claim that it shows the London bound Air India flight that crashed on June 12, 2025, in Ahmedabad.
BOOM found that the picture is from 2020 and shows the aftermath of an Air India Express Dubai to Kozhikode flight that crash landed at the Kozhikode International Airport on August 7, 2020.
On June 12, 2025, the Air India AI171 flight bound for London from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, met with a tragic accident minutes after take off from the Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft carrying 242 passengers including crew members is reported to have crashed into a doctors' hostel. According to Air India, the passengers in the Boeing 787-8 included 169 Indians, 53 British citizens, 1 Canadian, and 7 Portuguese nationals. Authorities have said rescue operations are ongoing.
The Claim
The viral photo of a split Air India Express plane is being shared with a Hindi caption that translates to, "The report of a passenger plane crash near the airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is extremely painful and heart-breaking. Relief and rescue operations are going on at war level at the scene. I pray God for the efficiency, health and safety of all passengers."
(Original Text in Hindi: गुजरात के अहमदाबाद में एयरपोर्ट के पास एक यात्री विमान के क्रैश होने की सूचना अत्यंत पीड़ादायक और मन को व्यथित करने वाली है। घटनास्थल पर राहत व बचाव कार्य युद्धस्तर पर जारी है। मैं ईश्वर से सभी यात्रियों की कुशलता, स्वास्थ्य और सुरक्षा की प्रार्थना करती हूं।)
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What We Found: Photo From 2020; Aftermath Of Kerala Plane Crash
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found several news articles from 2020 carrying the same picture while reporting about a Dubai-Kozhikode plane crash at the Kozhikode International Airport in Kerala.
1. News Reports With Same Photo: Media outlet The Hindu published the same picture in August 2020 with details that it showed the mangled remains of the Air India flight that crashed at Kozhikode International Airport on August 7, 2020. According to the report, the flight from Dubai overshot the runway at the international airport in Kozhikode, plunged down a slope, and broke into two pieces minutes into landing.
2. Photo Shared By Then Civil Aviation Minister: On August 8, 2020, then Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri visited the accident site and shared the same picture along with other images of the crash. The crash led to the deaths of 21 people, including both the pilots and caused injuries to over 100 others.