Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Soon after it was reported that a helicopter carrying CDS Bipin Rawat and 13 others, crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor, several videos and images claiming to be from the crash site found their way to twitter. Among the several images and videos of burning wreckage and charred trees, some users on Twitter also shared images of another chopper that seems to have crash landed onto a rocky terrain. Newschecker has found the image to be from 2019, unconnected to the crash that involved Gen Bipin Rawat.
One of the tweets, shared by user @Narendr6678, claiming to show the helicopter carrying CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, has over 86 retweets and over 300 likes. Other users also shared the same image with similar claims.
The same image was also shared as the helicopter carrying CDS by prominent Marathi publication Lokmat, which used it as a part of their gallery.
Fact check/Verification
To check the veracity of the image being shared as the helicopter carrying CDS, Newschecker began by conducting a reverse image search. Several results popped up, several of which referred to reports of an ALH Dhruv helicopter that crash landed in Poonch.
Using that as a clue, Newschecker researched further, following which we found an NDTV copy from October 29, 2019 that read “Army Chopper Force-Lands In J&K’s Poonch, All Including Top General Safe”. The article carries the same image, and mentions that the chopper carried a 7 member crew and had to force land after it developed a technical snag.
The article further reveals that the chopper was carrying the Northern Army commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, who had a narrow escape after the chopper was landed forcefully.
You can read the full NDTV article here.
The same image was also used by other media outlets such as the Indian Express and India Today and the news agency ANI.
Conclusion
An old image of a chopper that was forced to land in J&K’s Poonch is shared as the image of the helicopter carrying CDS General Bipin Rawat that crash landed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor.
Result: Misplaced context/Partly false
Sources
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
