Polish plane linked to fires in Albania without evidence

On 6 September, Shpend Gashi posted a video on Facebook and Instagram showing a map of the areas over which the Polish-registered aircraft SP-OPA had flown, suggesting a link between its flights and fires in Albania.

Although Gashi said in the video that he could not accuse the aircraft of causing the fires, he asked whether a fire that broke out after it flew over Korçë could give rise to “reasonable suspicion”.

Amfora’s fact-check found no evidence linking the aircraft to the outbreak of the fires. The flight paths show the aircraft’s movements, but do not prove that it caused fires in the areas it flew over.

Gashi urged users to share the video and send him photographs or footage of the aircraft via WhatsApp. On Instagram, the material was published as a collaborative post involving the accounts of TRU Podcast Media, which Gashi runs, along with those of Gent Bejko and Vilson Kulemani. The post received around 153,000 views and more than 6,400 likes, while the Facebook video received around 10,000 views.

The suspicions were reinforced the following day, when Altin Goxhaj shared a screenshot of a post from Andrea Vlashi’s profile, which described the flight paths as “strange”.

“For more than five days, a plane that departed from Poland has been flying over our cities! I don’t know what it is, but I can say that its flight paths are strange,” Vlashi wrote in his post, alongside images showing the aircraft’s movements.

In the documented comments, some users went on to make direct accusations that the aircraft had caused a fire near Kavajë, even alleging that it had used a “laser”, without providing evidence.

Michał Witkowski, Director of Airport Operations at Tirana International Airport, told Amfora that the aircraft was conducting “photographic flights” to produce a map of Albania.

Witkowski rejected the suggestion that the aircraft could have started fires while in flight. He said that even in the event of an engine fire, the likelihood of flames escaping the aircraft would be very small. He mentioned the theoretical possibility of igniting dry grass during take-off from a grass surface, but clarified that the aircraft had neither taken off nor landed on such terrain.

Meanwhile, on 25 August, the State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG) announced the launch of a new aerial photography survey of Albania, in cooperation with the Albanian Development Fund. According to the announcement, the first phase covers 680 square kilometres of urban areas to update maps of the territory. However, the announcement does not identify the aircraft being used or confirm that SP-OPA is carrying out the survey.

The aircraft is operated by the Polish company OPEGIEKA, which specialises in aerial photography and mapping. Its repeated flights departing from and returning to Tirana are also consistent with this type of work.

The posts thus linked the flights to the fires without demonstrating that one had caused the other. Initial suspicions turned into allegations of arson through shares and comments. The claim that SP-OPA caused fires in Albania remains unsupported by evidence, and the fact that the aircraft flew over a fire-affected area does not, on the evidence available so far, prove that it caused the fire.

These posts followed a summer of fires across Albania, from south to north and from mountainous areas to the coast. Amfora previously reported on the situation in Dukat, in the Vlorë area, and in the forests of Pukë, where residents were also evacuated, while strong winds and rugged terrain hampered firefighting efforts.

Several narratives also circulated on social media, claiming without evidence that tourists or Israeli nationals were linked to fires recorded in various parts of the country. These narratives were accompanied by unfounded information and promoted the theory that Israelis were behind the fires. In some cases, they also used material taken out of context or interpreted in misleading ways.