Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
Claim:
A Twitter user shared a two-minute long video claiming that despite charging three times fare, an Air India flight deployed to bring stranded Indians back home is not following social distancing norms. The video shows passengers in the plane quarreling with the airline staff.
Verification:
A two-minute-long video is being massively shared across social media platforms, which shows passengers in the flight quarreling with the airline staff. The post claims that it is an Air India flight, which despite charging 3x fare, is not following social distancing norms. An archive version can be seen here.
The captions of the viral video reads,
“Air India is charging the amount of ticket thrice assuring that social distancing will be maintained and only one seat per row will be used but look what we got. This is the reality. authority and airlines are both making a fool of passengers”
We discovered that several social media users shared the viral video with identical claims. Several readers sent the viral video to Newschecker’s WhatsApp helpline number for verification.
Fact Check:
With the help of relevant keywords, we performed Google search and found the video on the official YouTube channel of a Pakistan media outlet named ‘GNN.’ The video was uploaded on April 26, 2020. We established that it is the same video doing the rounds on social media. The caption of the video reads, “No Social Distancing Rules in PIA’s flights to bring back stranded Pakistanis home.”
Taking a clue from the caption, we found another media report by Pakistan’s Media outlet ‘Samaa.’ According to the report, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passengers protested against the national carrier after the rules of social distancing were not followed during a flight to Toronto. Passengers complained that despite charging a whopping $3,000 for a flight that previously cost $1400, PIA failed to take apt measures, and the passengers were made to sit next to each other.
PIA passengers protest violation of social distancing rules during flight | SAMAA
PIA passengers protested against the national carrier after the rules of social distancing were not followed during a flight to Toronto. The Civil Aviation Authority has issued strict SOPs to the airline that need to be implemented during all its special flights. The precautionary measures were issued to contain the coronavirus spread.
The report was also carried by Navbharat Times mentioning the same details. Murtaza Ali Shah, journalist from Geo News, also tweeted the same viral video on April 26, 2020, stating that it is a PIA flight.
While investigating further, we came across the official Twitter handle of the Press Information Bureau department that counters misinformation on government policies. PIB has also rubbished the claim and clarified that the video viral on social media showing passengers purportedly on an Air India flight, arguing over being charged thrice the standard fare, and not following social distancing norms is fake. The video is from a neighboring country’s airlines.
Replying to one of social media users, Air India also rubbished the claim being made on social media. Air India stated that the video is not from an Air India aircraft. The airline has also advised people not to spread misinformation.
Conclusion:
It is evident from our fact check that a video viral on social media claiming to be of Air India’s Flight is false. The video is of a Pakistani aircraft carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Tools Used
- Google Search
- YouTube Search
- Facebook Search
- Media Reports
- Twitter Search
Result: Misleading
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Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
