This is the scary amount of damage caused to the cockpit of a Red Arrows plane after a bird smashed head on during a demo in a Welsh town.
The jet - Red 6 - was taking part in the Rhyl Air Show 2022 during the Bank Holiday when the incident happened. Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud "pop" before Red 6 broke-off from the rest of the group's formation. The jet's Red Arrows teammates were then left circling above Rhyl for quite some time - until they received permission to return back to base, as concerned people watched on from the shore. It was later confirmed that Red 6 had been the victim of a "bird strike" - a bird had collided with the jet mid-air, NorthWalesLive reports.
Twitter user WelshieDale2022 captured the aftermath of the damage which left Red Arrows fans gasping in shock.
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Fan Patrick Bennett: "Wow, could have been very scary (not to mention dangerous) if this occurred during a complex display manoeuvre." Others praised the pilot for his quick actions. Paul Tatterson added: "It (the strike) was during a synchro crossover, and such a huge bird-strike could have been catastrophic. The pilot did really well there."
Speaking to the crowd as the Red Arrows' cut their performance short, the announcer at Rhyl Airshow said: "From what I can hear it sounds as if a bird has impacted its (Red 6's) canopy - this generally means that the bird has gone through the canopy and completely shattered it, which means that what he's actually hearing is the wind rushing through the canopy. The most important part is that it sounds like it didn't go down the engine."
Eyewitnesses said the pilot - named as Steve Ogston- was "quite shaken" by the incident but otherwise unhurt. He managed to safely fly the red Hawk T1 jet back to Hawarden airfield – next to Airbus Broughton – where they were based over the weekend for their two appearances at Rhyl Airshow The onsite fire service at Hawarden who were on hand as the jet landed, they helped Mr Ogston from the damaged aircraft.
Aside from the bird-strike incident, this year's Rhyl Airshow was a massive success according to organisers. It was the first time since the pandemic the event had been held and saw thousands turn out for the event - which boasted fly-bys from a T-67 Firefly, Typhoon, Team Raven, Tucano and Bulldog aircrafts as well as a display from the Red Devils parachute team.
The Rhyl Air Show was launched in 2009 and attracts thousands of people to the seaside town, it has also won the Magnificent Crowd Puller for events which attract more than 7,500 people when it was honoured at the Go North Wales Tourism Awards.
The Red Arrows, whose next display takes place in Bournemouth in September, have a series of UK events lined up before finishing off the year at the Bahrain International Air Show. The Rhyl AirShow was the second time the Red Arrows had been in Wales this year. They wowed the crowds during the Wales National Airshow, which was held in Swansea, in July. You can read more about that here.
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