A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
CLAIM: In two recent incidents during flights departing from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines pilots died from myocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
THE FACTS: These incidents didn't happen, a spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed in an email to The Associated Press. Thousands of social media users this week shared a fearmongering article that falsely claimed to provide evidence for why "vaxxed pilots should not fly." The article shared two examples of incidents it said took place on American Airlines flights traveling from DFW to Fort Myers, Florida, and from DFW to Los Angeles.
It claimed that one pilot experienced cardiac arrest in flight, and the other "started convulsing and vomiting" in flight, and both died before the planes landed. The article attributed both the deaths to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that has very rarely been linked to the COVID-19 vaccines. It said both pilots had recently received their second COVID-19 vaccine doses. In a final claim attributed to an anonymous source, the article said there had been "at least 12 non-fatal incidents involving pilots that had recently taken the jab." These...
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