The video itself is real. That's usually where the trouble starts with claims like this one — a genuine clip, footage nobody's disputing, wrapped in a caption that has nothing to do with what actually happened. This time, the claim making the rounds is that an Indian Air Force aircraft crashed in Pune. PIB Fact Check says otherwise: the footage shows a private training plane's runway mishap, with no Air Force connection whatsoever. But the more interesting part of this story is why the claim felt so believable to begin with — and that answer runs through a genuine tragedy at the exact same airstrip, seven months earlier.
The story in 60 seconds
- Pakistani-linked social media accounts shared a video claiming an Indian Air Force aircraft crashed in Pune.
- PIB Fact Check confirmed on 12 August 2026 that the claim is false: the footage shows a private trainer aircraft that veered off the runway during a training exercise at Baramati airstrip in Maharashtra's Pune district, on 9 August 2026.
- The aircraft was a Cessna 172S belonging to private flight academy Carver Aviation. Both occupants — the instructor and the trainee — were unhurt. There were no casualties.
- The incident has zero connection to the Indian Air Force.
- The same Baramati airstrip was the site of a genuine, fatal crash on 28 January 2026, when a Learjet 45 went down killing Maharashtra's then-Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others — a real tragedy that likely made the later, unrelated fake claim easier for people to believe.
- This fits a documented, recurring pattern of Pakistani-linked accounts recirculating real but unrelated crash footage with false "Indian jet shot down" captions during periods of India-Pakistan tension.
AI SummaryAI-generated summary, reviewed by editors
A video is circulating on social media claiming an Indian Air Force aircraft crashed in Pune. PIB Fact Check has confirmed it's false — the real footage shows a private training aircraft's runway mishap at Baramati airstrip, with zero Air Force involvement. What makes this one worth understanding isn't just the false l
Switch to ShortsThe claim, and what PIB actually found
PIB's Fact Check Unit was direct about it: "Pakistani propaganda accounts are sharing a video with a false claim that Indian Airforce aircraft crashed in Pune. This claim is FAKE. A trainer aircraft of private company crashed near Baramati airstrip in Maharashtra's Pune district." The real event behind the video is straightforward and well documented: on 9 August 2026, around 12:25 pm, a Cessna 172S trainer aircraft operated by Carver Aviation, a private flight academy, veered off the runway during a training exercise at the Baramati airstrip. Both people aboard — the flight instructor and the cadet — walked away unhurt. No injuries, no fatalities, and critically, no Indian Air Force aircraft or personnel involved at any point.
View the original PIB Fact Check post: x.com/PIBFactCheck.
Why this specific claim was so easy to believe
A false caption on real footage works best when it lands on ground the audience already half-expects. This one had exactly that kind of ground to land on. Seven months before the trainer aircraft's runway excursion, the same Baramati airstrip was the site of a genuine, devastating crash: on 28 January 2026, a Learjet 45 went down while approaching the airstrip in poor visibility, killing Maharashtra's then-Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar along with four others on board. That tragedy was covered extensively, nationally, for weeks. By the time a second aircraft incident happened at the same location in August — this one minor, survivable, entirely unrelated — the airstrip's name alone was already primed in people's minds as a place where planes go down badly.
Pakistani-linked accounts didn't need to fabricate footage from scratch; they only needed to take something real, strip away its actual context, and reattach a label — "Indian Air Force jet crashed" — engineered to exploit ongoing India-Pakistan tension. That's a well-worn playbook. PIB Fact Check has caught the same accounts running an almost identical version of it before, recirculating old, unrelated Indian aircraft crash footage with a false "Pakistan shot down another Indian fighter plane" caption. Different footage, same recipe: take something real, misname it, let the audience's own primed fears do the rest of the work.
Claim versus evidence
- Claim: An Indian Air Force aircraft crashed in Pune.
Evidence: PIB Fact Check confirmed the footage shows a private Cessna 172S trainer aircraft's runway excursion at Baramati airstrip on 9 August 2026, with zero Air Force involvement. - Confirmed: Both occupants of the actual aircraft — the instructor and the trainee — were unhurt; there were no casualties.
- Confirmed: A separate, genuine and fatal crash occurred at the same airstrip on 28 January 2026, killing then-Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others — unrelated to this claim, but likely a factor in why the false claim felt plausible.
- Documented pattern: PIB Fact Check has previously identified Pakistani-linked accounts recirculating other unrelated Indian aircraft crash footage with similarly false "shot down" captions.
How to spot the next one
- A real video doesn't make the caption true. Footage authenticity and claim accuracy are two separate questions — always check both.
- Check whether the location has been in the news recently, for a different reason. Hoaxes often piggyback on a place or name the audience already associates with bad news.
- Be extra skeptical of military claims tied to India-Pakistan tension. This is a specific, recurring category of cross-border misinformation that PIB Fact Check tracks closely.
- Check PIB Fact Check directly before sharing anything claiming a military aircraft incident — official denials or confirmations are usually posted quickly.
The verdict
False. The video shows a private trainer aircraft's runway excursion at Baramati airstrip, Pune, with no Indian Air Force involvement. PIB Fact Check has directly confirmed this.
Frequently asked questions
Did any aircraft actually crash in Pune this week?
A private Cessna 172S trainer aircraft veered off the runway at Baramati airstrip on 9 August 2026 during a training exercise. Both occupants were unhurt. This is unrelated to any Indian Air Force aircraft.
Was anyone hurt in the actual incident?
No. Both the flight instructor and the trainee cadet aboard the private aircraft were unharmed.
Is this connected to the January 2026 Baramati crash that killed Ajit Pawar?
No, they're separate, unrelated incidents at the same airstrip. The January crash was a genuine, fatal Learjet 45 accident; the August incident was a minor, survivable trainer aircraft runway excursion later falsely mislabelled as an IAF crash.
Who spread the false claim?
PIB Fact Check identified the accounts sharing the false "Indian Air Force aircraft crashed" claim as Pakistani-linked, part of a documented pattern of similar claims during periods of India-Pakistan tension.
Sources
- Fact Check: IAF aircraft crashes in Pune? No, video of private aircraft falsely shared — NewsMeter
- Private trainer aircraft mishap at Baramati airstrip falsely shared as IAF aircraft crash in Pune — Fact Crescendo
- Trainer aircraft crash near Baramati airstrip; no casualties, probe underway — The Quint
- 2026 Baramati Learjet 45 crash — Wikipedia
Full forms
- PIB — Press Information Bureau
- IAF — Indian Air Force
- CM — Chief Minister
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