This video was created using a flight simulator programme

(AFP) - A video has been viewed millions of times in multiple posts on Facebook which claim it is “real” clip of the Pakistan International Airlines plane crash that claimed scores of lives in the city of Karachi on May 22, 2020. The claim is false; the video was created using a flight simulator programme.

The video has been viewed more than 12 million times after it was broadcast on Facebook on May 22.

The seven hour-long video repeats a clip that features an animated image of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft crashing following an engine fire.

The video’s caption states: “PIA AirPlane Crashed Today in Karachi Real Video”.

The video was published the same day as a PIA plane crashed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing almost 100 people on board.

The claim is false; the video was produced using a flight simulator programme.

AFP conducted an analysis of keyframes extracted from the clip using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify and found the video consists of computer-generated imagery.

Computer-generated imagery

This screenshot from the video shows parts of the PIA plane appearing to sink into the ground upon contact, leaving no damage to the lawn. This would not be possible in a real-life event.

No visible damage to plane

One of the last frames of the video shows a large plume of smoke rising from the supposedly crashed aircraft, which appears intact.

This does not correspond with an account from a Karachi firefighter, who told AFP that the nose and fuselage of the plane had been heavily damaged by the impact, or with images from the crash site.