Graphic Shows Air India Only Airliner To Fly Into A War Zone? A FactCheck

A screenshot from PlaneFinder, a real time flight tracking service, showing Air India AI121's flight path gone viral with false claims that it shows Air India braving a war zone and entering Ukrainian airspace to rescue Indians stranded there.

The screenshot is viral as several Indian students in war-hit Ukraine take to social media appealing to the Indian government to evacuate them quickly after Russia launched a full-scale military invasion last week.

The viral screenshot shows the trajectory of an Air India AI121 flight going in one direction while several other aircraft seem to be flying away from the same.

The same image was published by Republic TV in a web story with the headline, 'Air India Lone Airliner To Brave Through War-ridden Russia-Ukraine Airspace: Report'.

Republic TV said, "When Ukrainian Armed Forces were shooting down six Russian aircraft, and An-225 was being captured (and re-captured) by Russia and Ukraine, Air India's flight to Frankfurt was the only airliner in the world, powering through the chaos, a report has revealed."

The story has since been deleted by Republic TV. View an archive here

Amish Devgan, managing editor of News18 India also shared the same image with the text - This single picture tells the whole story. यह नया भारत है । जय हिंद. He has since deleted his tweet. You can view an archive here

The viral screenshot is being shared on Facebook and Twitter with a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with varied captions all claiming that it shows the power of a new India which is flying through a warzone to rescue Indians in Ukraine.

FACT CHECK

BOOM found that the image was first posted by Twitter user QuebecTango on February 24, 2022 with a similar claim.

Where Did The Image Originate From?

A look at QuebecTango's tweet shows replies where several people posted their own screenshots for the same flight from Planefinder claiming they were not able to view the same.

The the user in subsequent tweets first said that he had been informed that the image was an altered one and then later clarified that it was a glitch in the flight tracking app which was corrected soon.

Did The Air India Flight Enter The Ukraine Air Space?

We then checked PathFinder to see the flight trajectory for AI121 on February 24, 2022 and did not see the same image as in the viral photo. In the viral photo, a lone Air India flight can be seen flying in one direction while all others seem to turning away, but in the below Pathfinder screenshot from the same day and flight, the same is not visible.

A look at the path taken by the flight further shows that it did not enter the Ukraine air space and in fact flew away from it.

Additionally, claims saying the Air India flight was to rescue Indians in Ukraine is false as flight number AI121 is a regular Delhi-Frankfurt flight and not one that goes to Ukraine.

DID AIR INDIA EVACUATE INDIAN CITIZENS ON FEBRUARY 24?

We then searched whether an Air India flight was sent on February 24, to Ukraine to rescue citizens and found that AI 1947 was sent from Delhi but called back after Ukraine declared they had closed their air space for civil air craft operations.

According to a story published by The Print, the "the Ukrainian authorities issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), which stated that flights of civil aircraft within Ukraine "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation"" and added that the Air India flight was called back upon directions by the central government. "The plane took an about turn in the Iranian airspace to return to Delhi," reported The Print.

According to media reports, the first Air India flight carrying rescued Indian citizens from Ukraine flew from Bucharest, Romania and landed at Mumbai airport on February 26.

A PTI story published by The Tribune reported, "The Air India flight had left from Mumbai for Bucharest at 3.38 am Saturday and landed there at around 10.45 am (Indian Standard Time). It departed for Mumbai at 1.55 pm (IST). The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24 and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest."