PODCAST. Attacks, accidents, disappearances… Air disasters at the heart of conspiracy stories

Who ordered the attack on the plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana? What happened to the Boeing flight MH17 that crashed in Ukraine in 2014? From the origins of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda to the unexplained disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, plane crashes and disappearances have fascinated conspiracy theorists for years.

On April 6, 1994, two missiles shot down a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana. Causing the death of the head of state, this attack which is commemorated this year on the 30th^e anniversary, rekindles tensions between Tutsis and Hutus. Theories arise as to the origin of the missiles, reigniting hostilities until they became the starting point of the Rwandan genocide. For supporters of the conspiracy theory, this attack was ordered by Tutsi forces…

“It’s the genocidal theory, explains Rudy Reichstadt, it allows the Hutus to exonerate themselves and blame the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), that is to say the Tutsi rebels, for the outbreak of the genocide. And therefore to suggest that the Tutsis are their own executioners.” A revisionist theory, because according to the ballistic analysis report submitted in 2012, the shots came from an area controlled by the army loyal to power. “The FPR rebels were based tens of kilometers from this same area”notes Rudy Reichstadt.

September 11, fertile ground for conspiracy theories

The genocidal theory is not the only one surrounding a plane crash due to an attack. The attack of September 11, 2001 represents for Tristan Mendes France “a truly seminal episode” conspiracy. If for some, it was a missile that caused the collapse of the Pentagon, for others, the planes were in reality only holograms. The collapse of the twin towers would be the result of an explosion: this is the “No Plane Theory”.

And the conspiracy theories surrounding air disasters don’t stop at the attacks. In the United States, QAnon circles continue to assert that John Fitzgerald Kennedy survived following his plane crash in 1999. For them, it is obvious that JFK’s heir is not dead.

“Since the crash in 1999, many conspiracy theories have surfaced. What’s crazy is that in 2023, years later, the most radical American complosphere is trying to bring the conspiracy theories of the time back to life”, observes Tristan Mendès France.

Plane disappearances: from uncertainty to conspiracy theories

The disappearance of flight MH370 between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing in 2014 remains one of the greatest mysteries of modern civil aviation. Shortly after takeoff, the plane carrying 239 people stopped transmitting its position. He remains untraceable, despite intensive searches. If debris found on beaches in the Indian Ocean confirms the crash at sea, the precise location of the accident and its cause remain unknown.

A “informational void that needs to be filled, for Tristan Mendès France, which will therefore give rise to a proliferation of theories of all kinds.” On the social network TikTok, an AI-generated video even mentions that it was UFOs that made the plane disappear.

So why do air disasters fuel conspiracy theories? “First, there is the media coverage. These air accidents are rather rare compared to, for example, rail accidents”observes Tristan Mendès France. “There is also the fact that on the planes, there are often many nationalities. It becomes a media moment covered internationally. And then last thing, we have the time frame for the investigation which is necessarily longer, more complex. And this time is a hollow in which many conspiracy theories are embedded.”

“Air disasters at the heart of conspiracy stories” is the 65th episode of Complorama with Rudy Reichstadt, director of Conspiracy Watch, and Tristan Mendès France, lecturer and member of the conspiracy observatory, specialist in digital cultures. A podcast to be found on the franceinfo website, the Radio France application and several other platforms such as Apple podcasts, Podcast Addict, Spotify, or Deezer.