Captured on camera – the moment a Red Arrows’ jet collides with a bird mid air over Rhyl

This is the moment a Red Arrows jet smashed into a bird shattering the aircraft’s cockpit canopy.

The world-famous aerobatic team were forced to cut short their display at Rhyl on Sunday a ‘few minutes early’ following the mid-air incident.

Mike Williams from Wrexham was at Rhyl Airshow on Sunday, he managed to capture moments the collision took place using a Nikon D500 camera with a 70-200 lens.

The image shows debris from both the canopy and the bird contouring over the aircraft as pilot Gregor Ogston took “immediate actions, delivered calmly and correctly.” His Commanding Officer David Montenegro said.

Photo: Ben Stacey

David said the pilot of Red 6 was ‘a bit shaken’ by the incident but otherwise uninjured.

He managed to safely fly the red Hawk T1 jet back to Hawarden airfield – next to Airbus Broughton – where they were based over the weekend for their two appearances at Rhyl Airshow

The onsite fire service at Hawarden who were on hand as the jet landed, they helped Gregor from the damaged aircraft.

A spokesman for the team said: “Thank you to everyone at this weekend’s Rhyl Airshow. We had to finish today’s RedArrows display a few minutes early after one of our jets suffered a bird strike, damaging the cockpit canopy.”

“This type of incident is not uncommon in aviation and is extremely well-trained for. In this instance, Red 6 and the whole team responded perfectly together, with no further risk to the pilot and aircraft.”

“Happy to report the jet landed safely and the pilot is unhurt. Thank you for all of the well-wishes and many messages of support, asking about the pilot.”

The Hawk jet is expected to remain hangered at Hawarden where it will undergo an intensive inspection and repair before rejoining the team at their RAF Scampton base in Lincolnshire.