An IAF helicopter crashed near the Garend Kalan village in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam area, news agencies reported on Wednesday, 27 February. According to unconfirmed reports, as many as four people have died in the crash, including two pilots and two crew members.
At the time of the incident, some media reports speculated that the crash was result of Pakistani retaliation in the wake of IAF airstrikes across LoC on 26 February.
However, Pakistan Armed Forces Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said PAF, which violated the Indian airspace on Wednesday, had no engagement with the crashed chopper.
CLAIM
Soon after news of the IAF helicopter crash in Budgam, Pakistani news outlets aired several photos, which, they claimed, were of the Budgam crash.
Images, purportedly of the crash, were also shared by Pakistani users on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper, Dawn, had also used a photo that it claimed was of the Budgam crash.
Similarly, other photos circulating online purportedly showed the Budgam crash.
Twitter users also posted screenshots of Pakistani channels such as ARY news and 92 News running bulletins containing photos of the ‘Budgam crash’.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The photos used by these Twitter accounts and Pakistani news media are old photos and are not of Wednesday’ crash at Budgam.
A quick Google reverse image search led to a report by The Indian Express from June 2015, which revealed that the crash took place in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district. The report had added that two pilots had ejected from the plane safely.
Dawn also used another picture -- which was published by The Hindu in 2015 -- in an article about the Budgam crash. The same photo was tweeted by a user at the time of the crash in Odisha.
Notably, Dawn took down the photo soon after its error was pointed out.
ANOTHER 2016 CRASH IMAGE USED
Moreover, screenshots posted by Twitter users purportedly show Pakistani channels ARY News and 92 News broadcasting images of the Budgam crash. These are actually from June 2016, when a MiG-27 IAF fighter jet crashed near the Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan during a training flight.
Another Google reverse image search led to a 2016 report by NDTV, which said that the aircraft had crashed into a building, but the pilot had managed to eject safely.
Contrary to initial reports, it was not an fighter jet, but a helicopter that crashed in Budgam, Kashmir, on Wednesday.
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