Monday, June 22, 2009

Air France Crash Footage Hoax: "Lost"

Oops!

From BNO News:

Bolivian television station PAT, Poland's TVN24 and Dutch news radio BNR probably thought they had their biggest scoop yet: photos from inside Air France Flight 447, seconds before it crashed into the Atlantic early this month. The crash killed more than 200 people and most parts of the wreckage have not been found yet.

Late last week, Bolivian television channel PAT apparently became the first to air the "shocking" footage, which were likely provided to them by a viewer. The photos show people grabbing to their oxygen masks and one even shows a passenger being sucked out of the plane.

But, they weren't alone. TVN24 in Poland probably got the same adrenaline rush when they received these "exclusive" pictures. And on Sunday evening, news radio BNR in the Netherlands broke the same story on their website. "BNR has received photos from a reliable source with Air France - KLM from moments before the crash of the Airbus," an article read.

But... is it really from Air France Flight 447? No. And apparently, the editors over at BNR, TVN24 and PAT haven't watched the hit-series "Lost" either.

The footage is from "Lost" and aired several years ago. If you are not familiar with the series, you can watch the "exclusive" footage on YouTube.

This is embarrassing.

The stations were duped.

Though a stain on their credibility, it's not as if they intentionally tried to pass off fake footage in their stories.

Remember Al Gore's use of scenes from the fictional film The Day After Tomorrow in his "documentary" An Inconvenient Truth?

[I]t was revealed by ABC News that one of the famous shots of supposed Antarctic ice shelves in the film was actually a computer-generated image from the 2004 science fiction blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow."

A news outlet falling for a hoax is a mistake that damages its reputation. However, what Gore was selling in his "documentary," fictional, computer-generated footage, was intentionally deceptive and meant to further the agenda of the environmental alarmists.

Big difference.

No comments: