Fact Check: Viral Video Claiming Climbers Seen From Aeroplane Window Is Fake
बैशाख २७, २०८३ १५:५२
Kathmandu. In recent days, a video has widely circulated on social media, claiming to show climbers ascending Mount Everest from an aeroplane window. However, a fact-check by TechPana Factcheck Desk has confirmed that this claim is false.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has stated that it is impossible to see climbers from cruising aircraft. Technical analysis, AI tool testing, and the use of unrelated audio prove that this video has been artificially edited.
Claim
A 10-second clip, posted on April 29, 2026, by TikTok user ‘nabeelsarwer’, was captioned “A passenger captured climbers scaling Mount Everest from the aeroplane window.” The video shows a passenger inside an aircraft, followed by an exterior view of clouds and what appears to be climbers on a mountain. By the time of verification, the video had amassed over 3 million views, along with 408,000 likes and 45,000 shares across platforms. Check out the original video and the screen recording.
Investigation
After extracting keyframes from the video and conducting a Google reverse image search, the video was found to be shared from various accounts. On X, user ‘BOODAK BARU’ shared the same video without any caption, allowing the clip to circulate without context. Watch the video.
Similarly, on Instagram, user ‘captain.firozgandhipilot’ also posted the video, claiming that climbers on Mount Everest were seen from an aircraft window. Watch the video.
Another Instagram account, ‘tbh.newsbd’, similarly shared the clip, describing it as footage of mountaineers seen from a plane window. Watch the video.
On YouTube, the channel ‘GTVNewsHD’, which has over one million subscribers, also uploaded the video, presenting it as authentic footage from the flight. Watch the video.
On Facebook, the page ‘Words_worth_Billions’ circulated the same video, further contributing to its spread across social media platforms. Watch the video.
An Instagram account named ‘The Daily Tong’ mentioned that this video is fake. In the video, the plane is shown first, and then the view claimed to be Everest is shown. The account claims that the two scenes do not match. Additionally, the account also provided arguments based on physics. See the post.
During verification, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) spokesperson Gyanendra Bhul said the video appears to be edited. He noted that while mountain flights in Nepal allow visibility of Himalayan peaks, aircraft do not fly in conditions where climbers could be seen from such a distance or perspective. He also added that visual flight operations are not possible under cloud-covered conditions, as shown in the clip.
Using the Hive Moderation tool, keyframes from the video were analysed. The initial human face segment showed a probability of more than 73 per cent of being AI-generated.
The visual of climbers showed a 98.6 per cent likelihood of being AI-generated.
Overall, the video has a 68.4 per cent probability of being AI-generated or digitally manipulated.
The video also contains an aircraft cabin announcement in English, typically heard during landing, including instructions for baggage collection. This type of audio is not consistent with a flying aircraft at cruising altitude, suggesting that it has been added separately.
Close examination of the video reveals several inconsistencies, including abrupt changes in lighting, unnatural layering, and masking effects. When zooming in, climbers appear clearly through dense cloud cover, which is both technically and naturally implausible.
The moment the young man looks outside the window, the sudden changes in the frame and lighting make it clear that this scene is not natural but edited. Technically, this is known as layering or masking. The most unbelievable aspect is that when the camera zooms in while the sky is covered with dense clouds, the climbers inside become visible, which is both naturally and technically almost impossible.
Generally, when zooming, the cloud in the foreground should appear larger, but here, seeing the scene inside the cloud-covered area makes it seem like footage captured by a drone or professional camera has been pasted in. All these flaws confirm that this video is edited rather than real.
Apart from this, we searched for news or other information prepared about this video. However, this topic did not appear in any mainstream media. Additionally, information about when it was recorded and by whom is unavailable.
Also, no video longer than 10 seconds related to this topic was found anywhere. From these various facts, the claim that “a passenger on the plane filmed a climber ascending Mount Everest” is confirmed to be false.
Claim
A passenger from the aeroplane captured a video of a climber ascending Mount Everest.
Claimants
TikTok user named ‘nabeelsarwer,’ X user named ‘BOODAK BARU,’ Instagram users ‘captain.firozgandhipilot’ and ‘tbh.newsbd,’ YouTube channel ‘GTVNewsHD,’ and the Facebook page ‘Words_worth_Billions,’ among others.
Facts
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), it is not possible to clearly observe climbers on mountains from the altitude at which commercial aircraft operate. The authority also stated that visual flight rules operations are not possible in cloud-covered conditions.
Use of AI: Testing the video with the Hive Moderation Tool confirmed that the young man shown in the video (more than 73%) and the view of climbers (98.6%) are AI-generated. There is a 68.4 per cent likelihood that the entire video was created by AI.
Irrelevant audio: The video contains an aircraft cabin announcement typically heard when collecting luggage after landing. This type of audio is not associated with a flying aircraft, raising further doubts about its authenticity.
Technical error: The video shows sudden changes in frames and lighting (layering or masking). Seeing climbers clearly through thick clouds while zooming is both technically and naturally impossible.
Lack of source: No credible media outlet has reported the footage, and there is no verified information on when or by whom it was recorded. Additionally, no version longer than 10 seconds of the video has been found anywhere.
Conclusion
The video that went viral on social media, claiming to show Mount Everest climbers from an aeroplane window, is misleading.
Feedback
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पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: बैशाख २७, २०८३ १५:५२
