The video, released a year after the September 19, 2021 incident, was captured by a US Navy T-45C Goshawk as an instructor and student approached a runway during routine training.
Suddenly, a large bird appears in view and strikes the aircraft.
As alarms sound in the background, someone in the cockpit can be heard saying “emergency, we’re trying to get to the runway” before the plane plunges and states, “we’re not going to make it, I’m going to eject.”
After ejecting, the plane crashed in suburban Lake Worth, Texas, damaging three homes. Although the airmen were injured, there were no casualties.
Similar incidents have also been recorded in Canada.
According to Transport Canada’s aviation incident database, a Canadian CF-18 fighter jet “reported a bird strike while landing on runway 24” at Montréal–Mirabel International Airport on July 7, 2021. A bird strike was also likely responsible for a May 17, 2020 crash that killed a member of the Snowbirds team and injured a pilot.
