On 21st January (Sunday), the Ministry of Civil Aviation officially dismissed fake news following an unfortunate plane crash in Afghanistan. Within minutes of reports that a plane had crashed in the mountainous region of Afghanistan, a concerted effort was made to spread fearmongering claiming that it was an Indian flight. Several netizens also claimed that a large number of casualties might have taken place.
Quoting an Afghan media report, Congress sympathiser Tehseen Poonawala tweeted, “This is terrible news. It is not a scheduled flight…I also really hope this is NOT a chartered flight … Just hoping and sending pleas to the universe.”
There were several other tweets repeating the claims.
Several social media users also peddled reports adding to the fearmongering that an Indian flight had suffered a tragic crash in Afghanistan. Incidentally, several journalists had also initially shared the same fear about an Indian flight crashing in Afghanistan, but it was soon pointed out that it was not an Indian flight and initial Afghanistani media reports had ambiguous or wrong details.
Importantly, clearing the air, the Ministry of Civil Aviation categorically noted that the flight that had crashed recently in Afghanistan was neither an Indian flight scheduled nor a non-scheduled/Charter aircraft. According to the information, it was a Moroccan small aircraft.
The Ministry tweeted, “The unfortunate plane crash that has just occurred in Afghanistan is neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non-Scheduled (NSOP)/Charter aircraft. It is a Moroccan-registered small aircraft. More details are awaited.”
Additionally, the Director General of Civil Aviation also confirmed that it was not an Indian plane as certain netizens had maliciously peddled on social media.
According to DGCA officials, a plane had crashed in the mountains of Topkhana near the districts of Kuran-Munjan and Zibak of Badakhshan province. It was a Moroccan-registered DF 10 aircraft.
According to a Reuters report, the Russian Aviation Authorities had stated that a Russian-registered plane with six people thought to be on board disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan on Saturday (20th January) evening. The plane was a French-made Dassault Falcon 10 jet. The plane was a charter flight travelling from India via Uzbekistan to Moscow.
The announcement by Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia came after local Afghan police had stated that they had received reports of a crash the previous night.
Meanwhile, the clarification from Indian authorities came at a time when there was a slew of tweets that tried to spread fearmongering over the unfortunate incident. Based on initial and unconfirmed news reports in Afghanistan media, several netizens shared posts peddling misinformation and unconfirmed reports leading to fearmongering of a large number of casualties in an Indian flight. While more details are awaited about the reported plane crash, the authorities cleared misinformation claiming it to be an Indian flight.