Tara Air’s 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft went missing in the mountainous district of Mustang, Nepal, on May 29, 2022, and the debris was found at Kowang village.
The aircraft carrying 22 passengers, including four Indians was flying from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55 am and had lost contact, after reaching the Lete area of Mustang which was later found crashed.
Following this, an image of the remains of a plane crash went viral on social media platforms purportedly showing visuals of ill-fated Tara Air’s 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft.
A Facebook user shared the image with a caption that translates to, “#BadNews #Accident #Tara Air’s plane carrying 4 passengers from Pokhara went out of contact shortly after the news of the crash on the top of Tela was shocked! Among the 51 passengers on board, 4 Nepalese, 3 Indians and 4 German citizens, 4 members of the crew, Pilot Prabhakar Ghimire, I express my heartfelt condolences to all those who died!! (sic).”
(Original: #दुखदखबर #दुर्घटना #पोखराबाट २२ यात्रु लिएर जोमसोमका लागि उडेको तारा एयरको विमान सम्पर्कविहीन भएको केही समय लगत्तै तेले माथिको पहाडमा दुर्घटना भएको खबरले मर्माहत बनायो ! ‣ विमानमा सवार यात्रुमध्ये १६ नेपाली, ४ भारतीय र २ जना जर्मनी नागरिक, चालक दलमा ३ सदस्य, पाइलट प्रभाकर घिमिरे , मृतक सबैजना प्रति हार्दिक श्रद्धाञ्जली व्यक्त गर्दछु!!)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral image and found it to be unrelated to Tara Air’s 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft that crashed in Nepal.
We performed a Reverse Image Search and found the viral image in an India Today report published on December 9, 2021. As per the report, the image was of the debris of IAF’s Mi-17V5 chopper that crashed on December 8, 2021, near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons on board.
“Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons who were on board IAF’s Mi-17V5 chopper died after it crashed near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday,” the caption read.
Hence, with the above information, it can be concluded that the image is being shared with a misleading claim.