The incident occurred on 28/7 during an airshow in Gijon, northern Spain, featuring a Spanish Air Force EF-18A multirole fighter jet.
Videos captured by onlookers show the EF-18A flying low along the coastline, tilting its wings to greet the crowd below. The aircraft then abruptly veered to the right, nosediving towards the sea and almost flipping upside down. After a brief wobble, the pilot regained control, pulled the nose up, and accelerated, narrowly averting a crash into the sea.
The near-miss left many beachgoers stunned.
The Spanish Air Force later stated that the F/A-18 "executed an evasive maneuver after detecting a flock of birds in its flight path." They emphasized that this is standard procedure to ensure the safety of both the pilot and the public.
"Our pilots are trained to react instantly to any unexpected situation. In this instance, the pilot demonstrated exceptional speed and professionalism, preventing a collision and ensuring the airshow continued without incident," the Spanish Air Force said.
The F/A-18 is a multirole carrier-capable fighter jet developed for the US Navy, with each unit costing approximately 67 million USD. These aircraft perform a variety of missions: from defending carrier strike groups and achieving air superiority to attacking ground and sea targets.
The Spanish Air Force operates the single-seat EF-18A and the two-seat EF-18B variant, upgraded to near-parity with the US F/A-18C/D variant. Spain lost an EF-18A during a training flight for an airshow in 5/2023.
Bird strikes pose a significant challenge to both civil and military aviation. Numerous fighter jets, costing tens to over 100 million USD, have been destroyed or severely damaged by bird strikes in recent years.
Last month, a Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon also experienced a bird strike during a display at the Aire 25 airshow. The incident resulted in a large hole in the cockpit canopy, forcing the pilot to abort the performance and return to base for damage assessment.
Nguyen Tien (According to War Zone, AFP, AP)
