Video shows “heavy snow and ice has frozen jets in Munich bound for Dubai's global warming conference.”
Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
Airport crews clear snow and ice in Munich, Germany, Dec. 5, 2023. (AP)
No, this airplane stuck in a Munich snowstorm wasn’t bound for the UN Climate Conference in Dubai
If Your Time is short
-
A Facebook video shows an airplane tipped over by heavy snowfall in Munich.
-
But that plane was not bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the site of the United Nations Conference of the Parties, aka COP28, a global climate change summit.
-
Flight records show an Austrian company operates the airplane and the plane’s last flight was Nov. 15 from Antwerp, Belgium, to Munich.
After a major snowstorm hit Munich on Dec. 2, social media users shared footage of a "frozen" airplane they claim was bound for an international climate change conference. But this claim is on thin ice.
A Dec. 2 Facebook video shows a snowy airport tarmac and an ice-and-snow-covered airplane tipped back onto its tail. A fire truck marked "Feuerwehr," the German word for fire department, is parked next to the airplane.
The video’s caption said, "Heavy snow and ice has frozen jets in Munich bound for Dubai's global warming conference."
(Screengrab from Facebook)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
This video was also shared widely on X, where users said it was ironic that a private jet bound for the United Nations’ 28th Conference of the Parties, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, would get stuck in a snowstorm.
Featured Fact-check
Global leaders are meeting in Dubai for COP28, which started Nov. 30, ends Dec. 12 and promotes climate change solutions worldwide. But there’s no evidence this snow-covered airplane was Dubai-bound.
Sequences of letters and numbers are put on all aircrafts for identification purposes. In the video, the letters "OE-HUB" on the airplane’s tail identify the plane as a Cessna Citation X, a type of business jet, operated by the Austrian company Bairline Fluggesellschaft.
The last flight scheduled for this aircraft was Nov. 15 from Antwerp, Belgium, to Munich, the flight tracking website FlightAware shows. This aircraft’s schedule listed no flights to Dubai.
A Dec. 4 Aviation International News report confirmed that this footage showed a Cessna Citation jet that had tipped over at the Munich International Airport because of heavy snow accumulation on the aircraft’s tail.
PolitiFact contacted Bairline and the Munich airport to verify details about the aircraft, but did not hear back.
We rate the claim that a video shows "frozen jets in Munich bound for Dubai's global warming conference" False.
Our Sources
Facebook video (archived), Dec. 2, 2023
X post, Dec. 2, 2023
X post, Dec. 2, 2023
X post, Dec. 2, 2023
FlightAware, "OE-HUB Flight Tracking and History," accessed Dec. 7, 2023
Fly XO, "The Cessna Citation X," accessed Dec. 7, 2023
Aviation International News, "Early Winter Snow Stops Flights at Germany's Munich Airport," Dec. 4, 2023
United Nations, "UN Climate Change Conference - United Arab Emirates," accessed Dec. 7, 2023
Bairline Fluggesellschaft website, accessed Dec. 7, 2023
Lead Stories, "Fact Check: 'Frozen' Jet At Munich Airport Was NOT Headed To 'Dubai Global Warming Conference'," Dec. 6, 2023
The Associated Press, "A snowstorm brings Munich airport to a standstill and causes travel chaos in central Europe," Dec. 2, 2023
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Sara Swann
No, this airplane stuck in a Munich snowstorm wasn’t bound for the UN Climate Conference in Dubai
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.