Double fake: Ukrainian TV passes off old heli-crash video & game stream audio as ‘new’ footage

Ukrainian news broadcaster Channel 24 recently aired footage of a Russian helicopter spinning out of control and crashing, all while a pilot screams that he’s going down. The presenters even seemed rather smug at the chopper apparently being shot down by Ukrainian forces, and the 'air traffic controller' saying that the aircraft is being crossed off the list. There was only one problem – the footage wasn’t just fake, it was a double fake.

The video was taken from a 2015 air show tragedy involving the Berkuty aerobatic team. One of the MI-28 helicopters spun out of control during an aerobatic maneuver and crash landed, resulting in the death of one of the pilots and the complete destruction of the aircraft. The second ejected in time and survived.

The audio of the ‘pilot’ was famous video game streamer Glad Valakas, whose meme-worthy content has been so widely spread he has several video games named after him. Much too famous for the news channel to hide, it seems, as viewers took to social media to ask, ironically if he was OK. Valakas himself jokingly reassured people that he was, in fact, fine. The audio had been taken from a flight simulator game stream, in which Valakas had given a rather over-the-top commentary as he was crashing his virtual aircraft.