Video of firefighting aircraft’s crash soon after taking off to combat LA fires

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is misleading.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image and keyword search to find the original source of the video.

Posts from users on social media platform X were circulating a video since January 11, 2025, claiming it showed a firefighting aircraft deployed to combat the wildfires in Los Angeles crashing immediately after takeoff. However, the video is old from Chile and unrelated to current events.

Six simultaneous blazes have ripped across wide areas of Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades since Jan 7, killing at least 14 people. At least 16 people are estimated to be missing. The death toll is expected to rise.

The inferno has damaged or destroyed 12,000 structures, according to US officials, reducing whole neighbourhoods to smouldering ruins, destroying the homes of the rich and famous and ordinary folk alike and leaving an apocalyptic landscape.

HOW IT STARTED

On Jan 11, a supporter of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl shared a video of an aircraft losing control and crashing into the ground soon after takeoff.

The post was captioned: “A firefighting aircraft in the United States crashed immediately after takeoff.”

The post was viewed 96,000 times. The post provided no context, location, date or other details about the video.

The video with the same caption was also shared here, racking up nearly 40,000 views.

The video was also shared by others users who directly linked it to the LA fires as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

It was shared on YouTube here, here, here, and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and the high influx of content related to the ongoing fires in Los Angeles which have grabbed significant public attention and interest.

A reverse image search yielded an X post featuring the video dated Jan 16, 2024.

The caption, originally in Spanish, read: “Tragedy in Talca Chile while fires were being fought in the area, a small plane crashed, leaving the pilot dead.”

A keyword search of “Chile Plane Crash Video” produced many news reports from credible media outlets on the same date.

According to a Jan 16, 2024, report from The Telegraph titled, “Firefighting plane hits overhead cables and explodes in Chile,” the crash took place on a road near the Panguilemo Aerodome in Talca, in Chile’s Maule region, and ended up killing the pilot and injuring four other people.

It added that local media also reported the aircraft was carrying out operations for the National Forestry Corporation before the accident occurred, however, it crashed to the ground before it could put out a fire on Route 5 South.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim that a viral video shows a firefighting aircraft crashing soon after takeoff to fight the LA fires is misleading.

The video is from a January 2024 accident in Chile where the aircraft crashed during a fire suppression operation.

Evidence and References

January 16, 2024, The Telegraph report:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/16/firefighter-plane-overhead-cables-explodes-chile/

January 16, 2024, X post:
https://perma.cc/Y4RT-D3F6