claim: A photograph shows an "Angel Flight" releasing a flare salute in honor of the fallen soldiers it is transporting.
origin: In late May 2017, an image purportedly showing an â€œAngel Flightâ€ releasing a flare salute in honor of fallen soldiers it was transporting home to the United States was widely circulated on social media: < Angel Flights are the U.S. Air Force planes (C-130â€™s) used to fly home our Fallen Soldiers. This is the Angel Flightâ€™s flare salute. Today we remember all those whoâ€™ve been carried on Angel Flights and those whoâ€™ve been lost on the battlefield â€“ everyone who has ever died protecting our great nationâ€¦ > The plane featured in this viral photograph does not appear to be a United States Air Force C-130 plane. Although we have not been able to positivelyÂ identify the aircraft, it appears to be a RussianÂ Ilyushin Il-76. Both the Il-76 and C-130 release a similar flare pattern, but the aircrafts have a few obvious differences. For instance, the C-130 (right) has visible propellers, while the Il-76 (left) uses Turbofan engines: In addition to misidentifying the aircraft, theÂ Facebook post also claimed that the photograph showed wasÂ releasing flares in honor of the fallen troops it was carrying. AlthoughÂ the flares are sometimes called â€œangel flaresâ€ due to the pattern they leave, they are deployed primarily as a defense mechanismÂ â€” not to signify that they are carrying anything other than the usual crew and supplies. To further complicate things,Â the term â€œangel flightâ€ is sometimes used to refer to an aircraft that is transporting fallen soldiers, but this does not appear to be an official military term. Weâ€™ve reached out to the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force for more information about â€œangel flights.â€ Â The two terms, however, do not appear to be related.