TikTok video miscaptioned as part of Kabul airport turmoil

Recordings of people in Afghanistan climbing onto a departing U.S. military aircraft at the Kabul airport have spread online, but one video of a man atop a plane engine high in the sky is not an authentic scene from the chaos that has unfolded in recent days. 

"Oh hell naw," one post sharing the video says. "Footage hits the net showing an Afghan going to desperate lengths to get away from the Taliban," one post sharing the video said. 

"This is not a movie," another account sharing the video wrote. "Afghan seen holding on to airplane while in the air." 

It’s not a movie, but it is a TikTok video that was created in August 2020.

Featured Fact-check

Social Media

stated on October 28, 2024 in in social media posts

"Nicki Minaj just endorsed Donald Trump for President.”

These posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The TikTok user who posted the video, @huyquanhoa, has posted other scenes on the plane engine in the clip, including him cooking, him sitting at a computer, him sitting at a table sipping a drink while the song "I Believe I Can Fly" plays, and him perched on the edge of the engine.

On March 27, 2020, he posted an explanation of how he made the video of him perched on the engine, showing part of the process involving a green screen and fans. 

We rate claims that one of his videos shows an Afghan man fleeing the Taliban False.