A pilot managed to land a helicopter safely at Wycombe Air Park after a bird smashed through the window at 1,900ft.
The terrifying incident happened at Wycombe Air Park at around 9am on July 7, 2021.
A bird smashed through the front windshield – known as a transparency – of the Agusta Westland AQ109 helicopter, which was being controlled by a 53-year-old pilot with four passengers on board.
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The bird hit the helicopter while it was climbing through approximately 1,900ft, breaking the window and remains of the bird entered the cockpit.
Fortunately, neither the pilot – who had 6,500 hours of flying experience - nor the passengers were injured.
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The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) investigated the bird strike and published their report online.
They outlined how Agusta Westland AW109 transparencies are “not designed to withstand bird strikes” and the aircraft’s design certification requirements “do not require them to do so” – but there are amendments being proposed to change this for newly-designed rotorcraft.
Plans to retrofit existing fleets are also being considered to make them safer.
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