Coincidentally Captured: $85 Million Fighter Jet Cockpit Shattered in Bird Collision

Cockpit Glass Shattered in Collision with Seagull
Aviation Photographer Accidentally Captures the Moment

A seagull colliding with a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet worth $85 million (approximately 127.5 billion won) was captured by a photographer, drawing significant attention. On July 22 (local time), the British daily The Telegraph reported that during the Eurofighter Airshow held at San Javier Air Force Base in Spain on June 15, a Eurofighter jet struck a seagull mid-flight, shattering the cockpit glass.

On the 15th of last month (local time), during the Eurofighter Airshow held at San Javier Air Force Base in Spain, a fighter jet collided with a seagull, shattering the cockpit glass. Photo by Javi As99

King Felipe VI of Spain attended the event, where the air forces of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy performed flight demonstrations. The fighter jet involved in the collision belonged to the 11th Fighter Wing of the Spanish Air Force. Immediately after the collision, the pilot was unharmed and managed to land the jet safely. The incident was coincidentally captured by aviation photographer Javier Alonso de Media Salguero, who was present at the scene.

The photographer said, "After hearing a radio message that the fighter jet had collided with a seagull and that the cockpit was damaged, I checked my photos and was truly surprised to see that the front of the cockpit was actually shattered." The Times of the United Kingdom reported, "The impact energy generated when a fighter jet flying at near-supersonic speed collides with a seagull is enormous. Such an event can destabilize the aircraft during low-altitude maneuvers, and the cost to replace the canopy alone can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars."

On the 15th of last month (local time), during the Eurofighter Airshow held at San Javier Air Force Base in Spain, a fighter jet collided with a seagull, shattering the cockpit glass. Photo by Javi As99 on Instagram

Meanwhile, collisions between aircraft and birds, known as "bird strikes," are a common type of aviation incident, with more than 13,000 cases reported annually in the United States alone. However, it is extremely rare for a bird to shatter a cockpit window, and even more unusual for such a moment to be captured in a photograph, according to The Telegraph. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), there were over 270,000 bird strike incidents worldwide between 2016 and 2021. Of these, more than 8,000 had a serious impact on the aircraft fuselage.