An old video from Tachira, Venezuela, is being falsely shared on social media as footage of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s plane crash in Baramati on January 28, 2025.
Pawar and four others died after a chartered Learjet 45XR crashed while attempting to land at Baramati Airport in Pune district. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aircraft lost control during landing. CCTV footage that has since surfaced shows the jet nosediving and crashing near the airport, erupting into flames on impact.
The Claim: Video shows Pawar's plane crashing at Baramati airport
The 19 seconds video is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "A video has surfaced of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's plane crash."
Click here to view.
What We Found:
1) Video From Venezuela
We broke the video into key frames and ran a reverse image search, which showed several news reports from October 2025 stating the footage is from a plane crash at Paramillo Airport in Tachira, Venezuela.
According to news reports, a twin-engine Piper PA-31T1 Cheyenne aircraft crashed shortly after take-off killing two people on board and injuring others on October 23, 2025. Venezuelan aviation authorities had launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
The footage below matches with visuals in the viral video.
2) Maharashtra DGIPR statement on viral video
Additionally, The Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR), Maharashtra, called out the viral video as false and clarified that it is not footage from Pawar’s crash. In a post on its verified X handle, the DGIPR stated, "The video going viral on social media, claiming to be of a plane crash involving Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is fake. This video is not of the accident that occurred in Baramati on January 28, 2026, but of an old plane crash that took place in Venezuela in October 2025."
