What was claimed
A photo shows an Indian pilot downed in Pakistan during the recent conflict between the two countries.
Our verdict
The photo actually shows one of two Indian Air Force pilots who parachuted to safety in Chamrajnagar in southern India when their aircraft crashed during a training exercise in June 2023.
A photo is being shared on social media with claims it shows an Indian pilot downed in Pakistan amid recent conflict between the two countries. But it actually comes from 2023 and shows a pilot who ejected before her jet crashed in southern India.
The photo shows a woman in what appears to be military attire lying on the floor with her hand on her head. It has been shared with the caption: “BREAKING: First image of downed female Indian Rafale pilot in Pakistan”.
But this is not what the photo shows. It was previously shared in an article published on 1 June 2023 with the headline “Trainer jet crashes in Chamarajanagar”, and the uncropped version of the photo shows another person in a similar uniform also lying on the floor. The article reports that two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots ejected safely, before the aircraft crashed.
The Indian Air Force posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the same day saying: “A Kiran trainer aircraft of the IAF crashed near Chamrajnagar, Karnataka today, while on a routine training sortie. Both aircrew ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.”
On 11 May, Pakistan’s Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director General of the country’s Armed Forces’ Inter-Services Public Relations wing, said in a press conference that no Indian pilots were in custody.
The two countries agreed to a ceasefire on 10 May following days of cross-border strikes earlier this month.
You can find more of our work debunking misinformation circulating online about the conflict between India and Pakistan, including other miscaptioned videos and images, on our website.
It’s important to consider whether something actually shows what the caption claims it does before sharing it online. Our guide to spotting misleading images and videos can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because this is an old photo from June 2023, and does not show the pilot of an aircraft downed in Pakistan.
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