The shooting down of a Russian war plane which is claimed to have flown into Turkish airspace sparked panic on Tuesday on the social media - particularly Twitter. It resulted in the phrase 'World War III' trending on the social network for several hours.

According to Business Insider, there have been conflicting reports about how the Su-24 went down. Turkey said that the jet was intercepted by F-16 aircraft in Turkish airspace and Russia says it was shot from the ground while flying over Syria.

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It is been reported by CNN Turkey that one of the plane's two pilots is dead. Immediately after the sad news, the WWIII hashtag began trending in the United Kingdom as people began speculating over how Russian President Vladimir Putin may respond.

President Putin slammed the incident as a "stab in the back by terrorist helpers." Following the incident, NATO held what it aired as an "extraordinary meeting" on Tuesday afternoon just hours after the incident.

Russia denies allegations that its warplane was breaching Turkish airspace, while Turkey a NATO member, claimed it warned the aircraft 10 times before shooting it down.

Putin has called for the international community to fight against terrorism and confirmed that Russia would never tolerate such atrocities.

According to NBC News, Putin questioned if they want to have NATO serve ISIS. He understood that every state has regional interests, and they respect that, but they would never tolerate such crimes.

Despite the fears on social media and the explosive rhetoric of politicians, outright war is unlikely, according to analysis by IHS Janes Terrorism and Insurgency Center.

IHS Janes said that the immediate impact of the aircraft shooting down is likely to remain limited to a diplomatic crisis. He added that such future incidents between Turkey and Russia are possible, as neither party is willing or able to back off.

The foreign minister of Russia canceled a trip to Turkey which was scheduled for Wednesday, while the Ministry of Defense said Turkey's defense attaché in Moscow had been "urgently called" to receive an "official protest" over his nation's actions.

However, a professor of international relations at Anglia Ruskin University, Ian Shields, told NBC News that Russia won't want to overreact in case the U.S. and Europe increase economic pressure and sanctions.

TagsRussian war plane, Russian President Vladimir Putin, NATO, Anglia Ruskin University, Ian Shields, Su-24, Russian Plane Shot Down Turkey, Russia-Turkey