Aviation photographer Javier Alonso de Medina Salguero captured the moment a seagull hit a Eurofighter at a Spanish display in June, shattering the cockpit

10:02, Tue, Jul 22, 2025 Updated: 10:32, Tue, Jul 22, 2025

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A seagull smashed into a fighter jet's cockpit (Image: SWNS)

Explosive photographs reveal the instant a bird smashed through the cockpit of a £73m fighter jet.

Aviation photographer Javier Alonso de Medina Salguero documented the moment when a seagull struck a Eurofighter during a Spanish air show in June.

Remarkably, Javier was unaware of what he had photographed until he reviewed his images afterwards.

He said: "This happened at San Javier Air Base, on the beach of Santiago de la Ribera, Murcia on June 15."

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The smash made for some incredible photos (Image: SWNS)

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The moment the bird struck (Image: SWNS)

"I was at the base in the San Javier area, at the site where they took us photographers. We were watching the Eurofighter display when we saw it leave without finishing the display.

"They reported over the radio that it had hit a seagull and broken the cockpit. Just then, I looked at the photos I had and saw the whole sequence.

"When I looked at the photos, I was amazed to see the front of the cockpit broken. Luckily, the pilot landed and was unharmed."

Javier employed a Nikon D7500 with a Nikon 200-500mm telephoto lens for the shots. The occurrence took place during the Aire25 international air festival at San Javier Air Base.

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