Observe, if you will, the unmistakable pride radiating from Elon Musk’s mother as she publicly commends her son’s renowned electric car company. There is, naturally, nothing improper or unexpected about a mother expressing admiration for the accomplishments of her billionaire offspring—after all, very few among us would refrain from doing the same under similar circumstances. Yet, despite the genuine sentiment behind her appreciation, the social media post she shared unfortunately circulates a deep misunderstanding. The true commendation, in this instance, should be directed not at Tesla’s technology, but rather at a vigilant and exceptionally quick-thinking human driver named Matthew Topchian. It was his keen awareness, responsive reflexes, and skillful manipulation of the steering wheel and pedals—actions powered by human intuition and physical dexterity rather than lines of code—that prevented what could have been a catastrophic collision.
The incident unfolded on a Thursday, when a distressed military propeller aircraft attempted an emergency landing that ended in failure. The plane descended in a precarious manner, ultimately crashing along a dusty rural road situated on the fringes of Oklahoma City. Although the two individuals aboard the aircraft escaped without injury, the mishap provoked a dramatic scene: the aircraft clipped two power poles, ignited a blaze, and narrowly missed colliding with a Tesla that happened to be traveling along the desolate roadway, wholly oblivious to the approaching danger from above. The proximity of the crash created a moment of life-or-death tension, where mere seconds separated the driver from possible disaster. (It is worth noting, incidentally, that this category of military plane is commonly employed in operations aimed at eliminating coca crops in South America, a fact that adds an unexpected international dimension to an already startling event.)
In the aftermath, Maye Musk—joining the chorus of devoted Tesla enthusiasts populating her son’s platform, X—shared the viral post as an example of Tesla’s assisted driving technology purportedly exhibiting extraordinary agility and intelligence by avoiding a deadly accident. Countless fans echoed this belief, celebrating what they perceived as a triumph of artificial intelligence and modern engineering. Yet, upon closer inspection, the foundational claim turns out to be thoroughly misguided. The driver himself, Matthew Topchian, later clarified that he had been manually operating the vehicle, relying entirely on human control rather than the car’s automated full self-driving (FSD) system. Indeed, he expressed the firm conviction that had he engaged the automated mode instead of driving by hand and foot, the Tesla almost certainly would have collided with the descending aircraft.
The confusion appears to have originated from a separate X post made by a user named David Bellow, whose message fervently proclaimed, “WOW! Tesla full self driving dodges a freaking plane falling out of the sky!” His statement, written with sensational enthusiasm, attracted attention and rapidly gained traction across social media platforms. However, the actual footage had first surfaced on TikTok, posted by Topchian himself, whose identity was later verified by a local Oklahoma City news outlet. Underneath the viral video, another TikTok user posed a simple but crucial question—was the Tesla in manual or self-driving mode at the time? Topchian’s reply left no room for ambiguity: he had been driving manually. In his own informal phrasing, he explained that while the FSD system is generally impressive, in this particular scenario it would have failed disastrously, possibly resulting in the plane being struck. Translated from his conversational shorthand, Topchian’s message effectively emphasized that human awareness, rather than automation, was responsible for averting tragedy.
In response to the confusion, X’s community moderation team appended a clarifying note to Bellow’s viral post, clearly stating that the vehicle had not been operating in self-driving mode. Nevertheless, Bellow declined to retract or delete his original claim. Instead, he defiantly asserted that he would conduct his own research before accepting the correction, insisting that he needed to hear a direct confirmation from Topchian himself to believe the truth. Dismissing the correction as incomplete, Bellow speculated—without evidence—that the TikTok comment verifying manual driving could have been posted from a fraudulent or ‘bot’ account, or alternatively, that the driver might have changed his story for attention, enjoying the fantasy of being viewed as a daring, racecar-like figure. His response, tinged with misplaced suspicion, typifies the resistance many social media users express when confronted with facts that challenge a more sensational narrative.
What makes this situation particularly concerning is how rapidly misinformation spreads and solidifies as accepted truth within online networks. Bellow’s post, despite the available corrections, has continued to circulate widely, accumulating millions of impressions and being cited by countless commenters as incontrovertible evidence of Tesla’s technological supremacy. Astonishingly, many of these reactions include sweeping and overstated conclusions, such as proclamations that “The Tesla self-driving car has achieved a level of safety I didn’t expect for another decade” or exclamations praising “Autopilot’s incredible situational awareness that even allowed it to dodge a falling plane.” These statements, while enthusiastic, are profoundly misinformed—and they highlight a troubling tendency among audiences to conflate human heroism with machine intelligence.
In truth, the near miss in Oklahoma City served not as a testament to the infallibility of artificial intelligence, but rather as a resounding reminder of the enduring importance of human perception, intuition, and reaction. While Tesla’s driver-assist features indeed represent remarkable progress in automotive engineering, they remain tools designed to aid, not replace, the capability of a thoughtful and alert human being. The broader moral of this viral episode, therefore, is not a celebration of autonomous driving, but a cautionary tale about how quickly digital rumor can distort reality, and how essential it remains to verify the facts—especially in an era where the boundary between machine ability and human skill is increasingly blurred.
Sourse: https://gizmodo.com/dont-listen-to-tesla-fans-on-social-media-fsd-did-not-just-prevent-a-plane-crash-2000677245
