Fact Check: FAKE Video Of Indian Air Force MiG-29 Crashing And Ejecting Pilot Is Actually War Thunder Gameplay

Gaming Content

Does a real video show an Indian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet crashing into the runway, scraping the tarmac in a hail of sparks before the pilot ejects? No, that's not true: The video is from the online combat game War Thunder. There is also no evidence from credible sources that such an incident ever took place.

The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) by the @DeltaWolf_00 account on X on Sept. 16, 2026. It read:

🚨🚨🚨
BREAKING NEWS:
An IAF MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during landing due to pilot error. No casualties reported. IAF is keeping it quiet as fighter jets keep getting lost at a high rate.IAF is getting failure every time.

This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like at the time of writing:

(Image source: post by @DeltaWolf_00 on X.)

The video is embedded below:

🚨🚨🚨
BREAKING NEWS:
An IAF MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during landing due to pilot error. No casualties reported. IAF is keeping it quiet as fighter jets keep getting lost at a high rate.IAF is getting failure every time. pic.twitter.com/6H4aBY0tAP

-- Delta Wolf (@DeltaWolf_00) September 16, 2026

A version of the clip (archived here) published on YouTube by CompareZone (@CompareZone-l7g) on July 22, 2026, identifies it as footage from the combat video game War Thunder (archived here). The description on the video reads:

The profile description for CompareZone reads:

All content here is 100% genuine, original, and created for true gamers. No copies, no shortcuts - only authentic gaming experiences! 🚀

Digital indicators

Several visual and audio details also show that the video is not authentic and comes from a military simulation video game:

1. The sparks, dust, and flames created when the jet hits the ground appear consistent with computer-generated effects, not real footage of an aircraft accident.
2. The smooth camera movements and quick changes in camera angles, including the camera following the ejection seat into the sky, are typical of a video game replay or spectator mode.
3. The trees, grass, and mountains have the uniform appearance of computer-generated scenery rather than real-world footage from a dashcam or handheld camera.
4. The way light reflects off the aircraft and cockpit canopy is consistent with computer-generated graphics rather than footage recorded by a real camera.

News searches

Lead Stories searched Google News (archived here) and Yahoo News (archived here) and found no matching reports about the claim from credible news outlets using the search terms: "MiG-29," "crash," "runway," and "eject."