Hours after it was confirmed that Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others died in an unfortunate helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, videos have started doing the rounds claiming the final moments of the ill-fated IAF aircraft. Two such videos showing chopper crashes have appeared on social media.
Along with several social media users, Times Now Marathi tweeted such a video, saying that it is a video from the helicopter crash.
Another media house named Times Media 24 also posted the video on Facebook, with the same claim.
Several social media users posted the same video, claiming it is the Mi17v5 helicopter that General Rawat was travelling in.
#BIGBREAKING Chief of Defence Staff #बिपिन_रावत and 12 others dies in a #helicopter crash .Deeply saddened,
— samita sharma (@samitas53375357) December 8, 2021
Most dreadful and the worst day of the year, A true warrior , great patriot who lived for India and died for india .
You will live on in our hearts forever #BipinRawat pic.twitter.com/qOvgMQRPqt
Bipin Rawat Helicopter Crashed In Tamil Nadu live Video #bipinrawat #helicopter #IndianArmy #BIGBREAKING pic.twitter.com/CgwCqZ0bSr
— Marwadi Club (@MarwadiClub) December 8, 2021
Bipin Rawat Helicopter Crashed In Tamil Nadu live Video #bipinrawat #helicopter #IndianArmy #BIGBREAKING pic.twitter.com/CgwCqZ0bSr
— Marwadi Club (@MarwadiClub) December 8, 2021
The video showed a Helicopter high in the air catching fire, and then crashing to the ground. While the chopper free falls in the air, several objects, which can be passengers, baggage, or broken parts of the aircraft, are seen separating from the burning chopper and falling to the ground. This footage directly questions the current theory of today’s crash, which said the helicopter hit the ground due to bad weather, as in the video, the video had already caught fire high in the air.
That is because, the video is old, and the chopper in it was shot down by a missile. The incident is from Syria and it happened almost two years ago. The same video can be seen on YouTube posted in February 2020, which says that it is the video of a Mi-17 helicopter shot down in Syria. The video was originally posted on Facebook by anti-government activists, and they were heard shouting Allah Hu Akbar while filming the crash.
According to reports, it was a Russian military transport helicopter, which was shot down near Aleppo in the Idlib province in Syria. It was targeted using MANPADS, a shoulder-fired surface to air missile, by a Turkey-backed rebel group called National Front for Liberation. Three crew members and two officers on board had died in the terror attack, which was one of the worst attacks on Russian forces in Syria.
A second video is also being shared on social media claiming to be from today. In this video, a video is seen crash landing on the ground. However, no fire is seen on the aircraft, while the chopper that crashed today had caught fire and the victims were burnt to death.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 helicopter crash hone ke karne Bipin sir hamre bich nahi rahe pic.twitter.com/ZXT0sD4zTn
— Vishal Maurya (@VishalM41957749) December 8, 2021
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 helicopter crash hone ke karne Bipin sir hamre bich nahi rahe pic.twitter.com/ZXT0sD4zTn
— Vishal Maurya (@VishalM41957749) December 8, 2021
Extremely pained to hear about the passing away of Shri #BipinRawat , his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 army personnel in the tragic helicopter crash. Gratitude for his wonderful service to the nation. Om Shanti 🙏🏼 @khansirpatna @PMOIndia #बिपिन_रावत #BipinRawat pic.twitter.com/tVu0QCuxtw
— Priyanshu Pal (@Priyanshu_Pal13) December 8, 2021
This video is also not from today’s crash where General Rawat and others died, as being claimed by many. It shows an Indian Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter crash landing in Arunachal Pradesh last month.
#WATCH video of the Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter that crash-landed near a helipad in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh today with two pilots and three crew members. All of them are safe with minor injuries.
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2021
(Source: a local person) pic.twitter.com/cTUbzZRT3J
The incident happened on 18th November 2021 in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, and fortunately there were no casualties in this accident. Two pilots and three crew members onboard the helicopter were safe with minor injuries.
Therefore, both the videos are not from today’s accident, and they are old. While one is almost 2 years old and is from Syria, the other one is three weeks old and is from Arunachal Pradesh in India.
