Striking video posted in June 2015 shows a drone hitting and damaging the wing of an airplane. It’s not real.
Fake Video
The video, which was posted to LiveLeak on June 23, 2015, shows footage taken from an airline window. The video’s title reads, “A drone just hit my plane this morning” with a description that states, “Some idiot’s drone crossed our take-off path. I’m still alive!” Approximately halfway through the video, a drone appears and clips the wingtip, breaking several small pieces off.
Readers debated some of the technical details of the video to ascertain whether or not it is real or not. Perhaps the most damning detail, however, is the presence of the url branit.com on the wing. As Next Web first reported, that URL does not belong to an airline, but to visual effects designer Bruce Branit.
Only a day before the video was posted, Banit Tweeted out that he was making “something viral.”
Making something viral is like fishing. Gotta put something good on the hook. But still no guarantee you’re going to catch anything.
— Bruce Branit (@branitfx) June 22, 2015
Hours later, Branit Tweeted a Ron Burgundy meme and confirmed that the video was fake.
For the record, of course it is fake. pic.twitter.com/g7hgsjB8I0
— Bruce Branit (@branitfx) June 23, 2015
Bottom Line
The video of a drone striking the wing of an airplane is not real. It was created by a visual effects designer, as evidenced by his url shown on the part of the wingtip which was partially destroyed in the video. The video’s creator confirmed that it was fake.