Old image of Air India flight’s accident in Kerala shared as recent one from Ahmedabad; Fact Check
Claim: Image shows the wreckage of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. The image is from a 2020 Air India Express crash in Kozhikode, Kerala and unrelated to the recent Ahmedabad incident.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
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Following the tragic air crash involving Air India flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London on June 12, 2025, just minutes after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, several images and claims were shared on social media. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8, was carrying 242 individuals, including crew. The plane crashed into a doctors’ hostel. More than 260, including those on the ground, were killed in the tragedy.
Amid widespread reporting and social media updates about the Ahmedabad crash, a photograph showing a severely damaged aircraft, split in two, is being widely circulated online. The image on Facebook is accompanied by a message in Hindi expressing deep sorrow over the incident and praying for the passengers’ safety, implying that the image shows the June 12, 2025 crash near Ahmedabad.
The same has also been shared here.
The claim reads in Hindi: “गुजरात के अहमदाबाद में एयरपोर्ट के पास एक यात्री विमान के क्रैश होने की सूचना अत्यंत पीड़ादायक और मन को व्यथित करने वाली है। घटनास्थल पर राहत व बचाव कार्य युद्धस्तर पर जारी है। मैं ईश्वर से सभी यात्रियों की कुशलता, स्वास्थ्य और सुरक्षा की प्रार्थना करती हूं।” The translation in English reads:”The plane crash near the airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is extremely painful and heart-breaking. Relief and rescue operations are going on at war level at the scene. I pray God for the efficiency, health and safety of all passengers.”
FACT-CHECK
To verify the authenticity of the image, a Google Reverse Image search was conducted, and the results clearly showed that the photograph in question is not from the Ahmedabad crash. It dates back nearly five years ago—to August 7, 2020—when an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kozhikode skidded off the runway during landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode International Airport. The aircraft, a Boeing 737, overran the table-top runway, plunged into a gorge, and broke apart.
Here’s the original picture of the Kerala accident used in Onmanorama news website. The same picture was used in Hindustan Times.
This incident was extensively reported at the time. The 2020 crash claimed the lives of 21 people, including both pilots, and left more than 100 injured. Hence, the image being circulated now as a visual from the Ahmedabad tragedy is unrelated and false.
Also Read:
Hours after Air India Flight 171 crash at Ahmedabad, video of inside scene surfaces; Fact Check
