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

A global concern echoed in numbers and past tragedies
In a broader context, bird collisions have been the bane of both military and civilian aviation. In the U.S. alone, nearly 292,000 wildlife strike reports were recorded between 1990 and 2023, with wild animal impacts destroying more than 300 aircraft and claiming nearly 500 lives worldwide since 1988
. In 2024, a FedEx cargo jet suffered a serious bird strike-induced fire, prompting an emergency landing, and in 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 famously ditched into the Hudson River after a goose flock temporarily disabled both engines—a calamity averted only by the exceptional skill of Captain “Sully” Sullenberger.