The £73M Eurofighter Brought to Its Knees by a Bird in Mid-Air Collision

A costly hazard of wildlife strikes
Bird strikes—especially at low altitude, where high-performance jets weave through flocks—are among the aviation industry’s most unpredictable dangers. For warplanes like the Eurofighter, striking the cockpit canopy presents risks far beyond what many fixedâ€'wing commercial pilots might face. While most bird strike incidents involve engine ingestion, windshield impacts account for roughly 20% of cases for fixed-wing military aircraft and nearly half for helicopters. Repairing or replacing a canopy is exceedingly expensive—easily reaching a six-figure sum when accounting for materials, labor, and potential downtime.