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| - Fact Check: This mid-air photoshoot of fighter aircraft is not from India's Republic day celebrations
Many users claim this video was shot during the airshow conducted by the IAF on Republic Day.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is from the rehearsal of an airshow by the Royal Saudi Air Force as part of the Kingdom's 90th National Day in 2020.
It's only been a few days since India marked her 73rd Republic Day. The grand finale of the Republic Day parade in New Delhi witnessed the biggest fly-past with 75 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) participating.
The video of a man engaged in a mid-air photoshoot of fighter jets from the half-opened loading ramp of a plane is now viral on social media. Many users claim this video was shot during the airshow conducted by the IAF on Republic Day.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim along with the video is misleading. This is an old video from Saudi Arabia and has no connection to India.
AFWA probe
Closely observing the viral clip, we could spot the national emblem of Saudi Arabia on some aircraft flying in the formation. This gave us the first clue that the video could be from Saudi Arabia and not India.
A reverse search of viral video's keyframes led us to multiple media reports and blogs from 2020. While some had the video embedded, others carried screenshots of the same.
According to these reports, the video is of a photoshoot organised by the Royal Saudi Air Force during air show rehearsals ahead of the 90th National Day of Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed Hade, a well-known Saudi aviation photographer is the man seen capturing the fighter planes in a daredevil act, the reports state.
We reached out to Ahmed Hade over Instagram. Ahmed confirmed that he is the man in the video snapping pictures of the stylish iron birds. "Yes, I'm the photographer seen in the video. It was an airshow rehearsal near the Jeddah waterfront for the Saudi Kingdom’s 90th National Day celebrations," he told AFWA.
On his Instagram handle, Ahmed has also posted an image of the aircraft similar to the ones seen in the viral video. "Typhoon, Tornado, and F15C of the Royal Saudi Air Force," reads the description of the image.
The coastline of Jeddah can be seen briefly in the viral video. We compared this part with an aerial view of the Jeddah waterfront available on stock image site iStock, and found multiple similarities.
The geolocation of the waterfront can be seen here.
On September 23, 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had marked the 90th National Day with a massive airshow and fireworks. A total of 60 military and civilian aircraft participated in the airshow.
In September 2020, Saudi journalist Enad al-Otaibi had also tweeted the viral video on his verified Twitter handle.
" " " " #__90#__ #_ pic.twitter.com/OzGsWxaJHX — (@ENAD_Alotaibi) September 22, 2020
Indian media outlets Times of India and Asianet Newsable also shared this video in 2020 as that from Saudi.
It is hence clear that the video in circulation as of an aerial photoshoot during India’s 73rd Republic Day celebrations happened in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
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