Old Video Viral Claiming IAF Pilot Rescued After 'Operation Sindoor'

A February 2025 incident when an Indian Air Force pilot ejected out of his crashed jet in Madhya Pradesh is being peddled claiming it shows an incident from Pakistan's alleged retaliatory airstrikes against India's Operation Sindoor.

BOOM found that the video is unrelated to the tensions between India and Pakistan.

On May 7, 2025, Indian Army launched 'Operation Sindoor' targeting nine alleged terror outfits in Pakistan, as a retaliatory military action against the April terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Since the military action, several border regions in India have experienced shelling with casualties reported in Kashmir and Punjab.

A post on X shared the video with the claim, "Video of another Indian pilot goes viral".

Click here to view the post and here for an archive.

Fact Check - Old Video From February, IAF Jet Crash In MP

BOOM saw that viral video carries the logo of the Hindi news outlet AajTak. Using this we ran a keyword search in Hindi and found the same video uploaded by AajTak on its verified Facebook page on February 7, 2025.

AajTak reported that the incident is from Bahreta Sani village of Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh when an IAF Mirage-2000 crashed in a field. Adding that the video shows locals rescuing the pilot who ejected out safely. The report emphasised that the reason was for the crash had not been determined till the time of the story.

Several other news outlets, including ETV Bharat and Navbharat Times also reported on the incident at the time, featuring the same visuals.

While unverified reports claim that Pakistani forces shot down Indian Rafale jets in a counter-strike, there has been no official confirmation as of the publication of this story.