Warning: Graphic content below.
A pilot in Brazil had to make an emergency landing after a vulture crashed straight through the windshield of his cockpit. But miraculously, neither the pilot nor his five passengers were injured by the enormous bird.
The incident took place on December 5 in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, on a flight that had departed from the municipality of Envira en route to Eirunepé, in the western region of the country. Somewhat gruesome photos and videos show the dead bird dangling from a huge hole in the left side of the plane’s windshield, with blood splattered across the glass and shards of glass on the dashboard.
Still, the pilot managed to land the plane calmly, despite being visibly shaken by the ordeal, even as the wind blew through the hole and blew through his hair.
According to the Daily mailthe pilot could be heard saying in the video: “It was a close call! This is the fault of the landfill next to the airport, which attracts an absurd amount of vultures to the area.” Local media also blamed the landfill on the birds of prey, as they posed an ever-present risk to planes flying into the airport.
One of the passengers added: ‘We thought we wouldn’t get out alive. It was a miracle to land in the pilot’s face.”
A similar incident took place in Ecuador last year when a large bird, believed to be an Andean condor – a type of vulture native to parts of western South America – crashed mid-air through the windshield of a crop dusting plane, causing the pilot to bleed. In that case too, the pilot was able to land the plane safely.
