Image purporting to show Iranian president’s helicopter on fire before crash has been manipulated
Original image of helicopter was shot in Italy in 2012
CLAIM
An image circulating on social media purported to show the helicopter of Iranian President Raisi on fire prior to crashing in a mountainous area near Azerbaijan on May 19.
BACKGROUND
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area near Azerbaijan, state media reported on Monday, May 20.
Raisi and Amirabdollahian were travelling to the city of Tabriz from Azerbaijan, where they had attended a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with President Ilham Aliyev.
Rescue teams were deployed to the mountains near the Iranian-Azerbaijani border after the helicopter made a “hard landing” amid thick fog on Sunday, local media initially reported.
In the aftermath of the crash, an image began to circulate online purporting to show Raisi’s helicopter on fire prior to prior to crashing on Sunday.
Well-known far-right conspiracy theorist Diana Wallace shared the image, writing: “If nobody else is going to say it then I will. The president of Iran obviously had his helicopter shot out of the sky by a space laser!”
The image was also shared by a Yemani-based YouTuber with 1.3m subscribers in a video titled “Ten pieces of information reveal the circumstances of the downing of the Iranian president’s plane”.
The Argentinian news outlet La Opinión Austral also shared the image as part of its news coverage of the incident.
METHOD
Examining the photograph, the Eurovision Social Newswire found inconsistencies between the lighting of the helicopter and the terrain in the photograph.
The terrain is also heavily pixilated, while the helicopter also appears relatively high resolution, indicating that that these are potentially two different images.
After isolating the helicopter and running a Google reverse image search, the ESN was brought to an iStock image uploaded on March 24, 2015.
It is titled, “Ground view looking up at a helicopter exploding mid-air stock photo”.
The image is an exact match for the helicopter, which appears in the image shared after the crash of the Iranian president’s helicopter on May 19.
A further search of the image found an earlier version on the stock video and image website Alamy. However, this version of the image does not include a ball of fire, and the helicopter is fully intact.
The website lists the image as having been captured by Giorgio Calderato on September 9, 2012, in Valdagno, Italy.
A description accompanying the image reads: “09/09/2012 Valdagno (Italy) aerial photographic surveys with helicopter. Amprion GmbH is an important transmission system operator in Europe and operates a german extra-high voltage grid with a length of 11.000 km.”
However, this version of the image does not include a ball of fire, and the helicopter is fully intact.
Another version of the image appears on Giorgio Calderato’s Shutterstock profile, with the same description. Giorgio Calderato describes himself as a visual artist and videographer based in Italy.
From this analysis, we can conclude that the initial photograph of the helicopter dates back to 2012 in Italy. A subsequent version of the image published in 2015 has been edited to include a fireball and damage to the helicopter by the originator.
Elements of the helicopter have been photoshopped into a third photograph to appear to show a helicopter crashing into a mountainous region and does not show the crashing of the Iranian president’s helicopter on May 19.
RATING
Manipulated. The photograph was photoshopped and dated back to at least 2012. It is not connected to the crash of the Iranian president’s helicopter on May 19.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: If nobody else is going to say it then I will. [Accessed 21 May 2024].
YouTube. Available at: علوم رجال – ابوعلي (2024). عشر معلومات تكشف ملابسات سقوط طائرة الرئيس الايراني [Accessed 21 May 2024].
La Opinión Austral (2024). Murió el presidente de Irán Ebrahim Raisi en un accidente en helicóptero. [online] La Opinión Austral. Available at: https://laopinionaustral.com.ar/el-mundo/murio-el-presidente-irani-ebrahim-raisi-en-un-accidente-en-helicoptero-420812.html [Accessed 21 May 2024].
Hubschrauberabsturz, von (2015). Hubschrauber explodiert im Flug. [online] iStock. Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/de/foto/flugzeug-unfall-gm467622102-60454576 [Accessed 21 May 2024].
Alamy Limited (2024). 09/09/2012 Valdagno (Italy) aerial photographic surveys with helicopter. Amprion GmbH is an important transmission system operator in Europe and opera. [online] Alamy.com. Available at: https://www.alamy.com/09092012-valdagno-italy-aerial-photographic-surveys-with-helicopter-amprion-gmbh-is-an-important-transmission-system-operator-in-europe-and-opera-image334430997.html [Accessed 21 May 2024].
Shutterstock. (2024). 09092012 Valdagno Italy Aerial Photographic Surveys Stock Photo 1349948366 | Shutterstock. [online] Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/09092012-valdagno-italy-aerial-photographic-surveys-1349948366?irclickid=0253gL1xQxyNUIKVQS2LCyO3UkDVAD3ULX1RQU0&irgwc=1&utm_campaign=TinEye&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=77643&utm_term= [Accessed 21 May 2024].