Fact Check

Did Marla Maples Die in a Plane Crash?

Reports that President Trump's ex-wife Marla Maples died in an airline accident are fake news that reused 1997 images of a downed cargo jet.

Published April 18, 2017

 (Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com)
Image Via Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
President Trump's second wife, Marla Maples, died in a plane crash in April 2017.

On 17 April 2017, fake news site True Trumpers published a page containing only the clickbait headline "Just In: Trump’s Ex-Wife Marla Maples Died After Airline Accident!" and a photograph of what appeared to be the wreckage of a crashed plane:

JUST_IN__Trump’s_Ex-Wife_Marla_Maples_Died_After_Airline_Accident__–_True_Trumpers

There is no truth to the sensational headline, a claim which would have made worldwide news if it were accurate; indeed, the image used here is actually from July 1997, when a Federal Express plane crashed and burned during a landing at Newark International Airport. (Despite the dramatic image, only minor injuries were reported.)

Before claiming Marla Maples was killed in a plane crash, True Trumpers reported (falsely) that Vice-President Mike Pence and 23 staffers died in the same manner in March 2017.

Sources

"Aircraft Accident Report: Crash During Landing Federal Express, Inc. Mcdonnell Douglas Md-11, n611fe Newark International Airport Newark, New Jersey, July 31, 1997."     National Transportation Safety Board.    25 July 2000.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.