Photo compilations uploaded by Filipino netizens bore two old photos unrelated to the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12.
Facebook (FB) users uploaded images supposedly showing the scenes from the aviation accident shortly after it happened. The posts bore identical captions which read:
“Just In. London-bound Air India flight with 244 aboard crashes after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India. The Associated Press [reported that] that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. He said 244 people were on board and it was not immediately possible to reconcile the discrepancy with Air India’s numbers.”
Two of the five photos were from a plane crash in India 15 years ago and given false context.
Two images show the site of another Air India plane, Boeing 737-800, that crashed in Mangalore on May 22, 2010.
Agence France-Presse uploaded the first photo on Getty Images (archive) while the second photo was published by several media organizations.
The other photos in the compilation were legitimate and from the aftermath of the June 12, 2025 tragedy.
- Image showing black smoke rising from the plane that crashed into a building.
- Photo of firefighters working at the crash site.
- Screenshot from a video showing enormous black smoke after the crash.
The FB posts bearing outdated photos were uploaded the same day the Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed into a building shortly after takeoff, killing at least 290 people including the passengers and people on the ground. Only one out of the 242 passengers survived the crash.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has since offered condolences to the victims’ families and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
VERA Files has debunked other plane crash–related disinformation that circulated among Filipino netizens.
Four posts from FB users have so far collectively garnered 413 engagements.
