Old Video of Helicopter Crash from Russia Falsely Shared as Kedarnath Incident.

On June 15, a helicopter operated by Aryan Aviation crashed near Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, killing all seven people on board, including the pilot and six pilgrims.

Against this backdrop, a video is going viral on social media in which a helicopter is seen crashing while landing followed by a massive explosion. It is being claimed that this video is the scene of the Kedarnath helicopter crash.

However, Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. A video of a helicopter crash in Russia in 2014 is being shared with claims of the recent Kedarnath incident. 

Instagram | Archive

Fact Check- 

A Google Reverse Image Search on a keyframe led us to the same video uploaded on YouTube in 2014. The video’s caption reads, “Mi-8 helicopter crash in Gelendzhik, Russia (September-5-2014).” According to the information provided in the video, the incident took place in Gelendzhik, Russia in 2014.

Taking a clue from this, we searched for media reports related to the incident. According to the Military website, the video shows a military Mi-8 Hip utility helicopter crashing during an air show in Russia. The helicopter, owned by the Russian “PANH Helicopters” air company (which operates about 30 aircraft and provides aerial services), was participating in the opening ceremony of the Gidrovisalon in Gelendzhik in 2014, an international hydro-air show that attracted 180 Russian companies and 14 foreign delegations.

The helicopter overturned on the ground during landing, broke into two pieces, and caught fire.

A Russian news reported that there were three people on board the helicopter. Two of them, the commander and the flight mechanic, died at the scene. The co-pilot, Igor Khodak, was taken by ambulance to the regional clinical hospital.

Conclusion: 

Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. This is an old video from Russia and not a visual of the helicopter crash in Kedarnath.