An astonishing photograph reveals the damage to a Tui aircraft after two swans collided with a plane mid-air.
Flight T432 departed Gatwick Airport at 8.55am on Wednesday 5 February destined for Cape Verde when the incident occurred.
The aircraft reached approximately 1,000 feet when the pair of birds crashed into the windscreen of the Boeing 737 Max.
Around 150 passengers were on board the flight, a spokesperson for Tui told The Independent, who confirmed that the carrier was safely returned to the tarmac.
The passengers were subsequently transferred to another aircraft and departed the airport hub approximately three hours later.
No injuries to passengers or crew were reported.
Pictures of the affected aircraft reveal the force at which the birds impacted the plane, with visible dents shown and blood smeared across the cracked windscreen.
Bird strikes are a common occurrence in the aviation industry, with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reporting nearly 1,500 incidents in the UK in 2022.
The most recent data published by the government agency reveals that gulls are the most common species involved in birdstrikes, followed by common wood pigeons and pigeons.
The news follows Friday’s announcement that all airports in South Korea have been ordered to install bird detection cameras and thermal imaging radars following the Jeju Air crash in December which killed 179 people.
An investigation into the crash found that bird strikes played a role in the crash which saw the Boeing 737-800 skid off the runway at Muan International Airport and hit a concrete perimeter fence.
It marked the deadliest aviation incident on South Korean soil.
In November 2024, a Hainan Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Rome after a bird strike caused an engine fire shortly after takeoff.
The China-bound flight returned to Fiumicino Airport on 10 November landing safely after making a U-turn and “fuel-dumping” over the sea to reduce the aircraft’s weight.
And in May the same year, at least 36 protected flamingos were killed in a single bird strike incident in western India involving an Emirates Boeing 777.
