Flight Simulator Clip Shared as Footage of China Plane Crash

The Misbar team investigated the claim and found it to be fake. News sources reported that a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 carrying 132 people crashed in Southern China, following a sudden plunge just before preparing to descend for landing, on March 21, 2022. However, no credible news sources were found to be sharing the video in the claim.  Moreover, upon close inspection of the clip, it was revealed that the airline tail logo and colors were visible, showing an Ethiopian Airline plane. A comparison between a screenshot of the video and an Ethiopian Airline plane is seen below.

This confirms that the video is unrelated to the China plane crash because it is from China Eastern Airlines, not Ethiopian Airlines.

Using a relevant keyword search, it was revealed that in March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines' plane crashed en route to Kenya, killing 157 people. A video related to the incident was discovered on YouTube by "Bull Bosphorus" around the same time the crash occurred in March 2019. The video is over ten minutes long, so the circulating clip is a condensed version. The original video has been uploaded with a disclaimer stating that it is a "simulation" created with "X-Plane 11 Flight Simulator" and not a true video of the crash. A screenshot of the video, which starts with the circulating clip, is shown below.

Based on the findings, while the China Eastern Airline plane crash occurred, the accompanying video is a simulation of an Ethiopian Airline crash from March 2019. Therefore, the Misbar team confirms the claim is false.