Old Video Of F-16 Takeoff Shared As Indian Plane Being Shot Down

After the Pakistan Army claimed to have shot down an Indian aircraft during Operation Sindoor, several old and unrelated videos are going viral on social media with the claim “Indian aircraft downed”.

Fact Crescendo received several requests to verify such clips through its WhatsApp Tipline (9049053770).

One such video shows a plane taking off with flames coming from its engines. It’s being shared with the claim that it shows the moment the Indian aircraft was shot down.

What’s the claim? 

A social media user shared the video with the caption: “This is the video of the moment the Indian plane was shot down.”

Facebook | Archive

Fact Check –

A Google reverse image search led us to the same video, uploaded on 2 March 2023 on a TikTok handle named “vnzowl”.

The caption there stated that the video shows an F-16 aircraft using afterburners during a night flight.

Tiktok | Archive

Using keywords from that post, we found the same video had been circulating since 2015.

A user named James Drew shared the same video on YouTube on 14 August 2015.

The caption of the video read, “F-16 Fighting Falcons take off from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.”

This confirms the video is old and unrelated to the recent India-Pakistan tensions.

Youtube 

Conclusion

This viral video is not related to Operation Sindoor or any Indian aircraft being shot down. It shows an F-16 aircraft taking off and has been online since 2015. Sharing it as recent war footage is misleading.