RAF A400 Birdstrike Spain

[KPax]

Not sure this will buff out.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/600x450/a400_8bbefe4b49cbc15360d9f273a94ae7ae7e4d4402.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/450x600/a4001_2ec8f3fd7f7a3fb705447ae63ffa23f81838b1eb.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/600x450/a4002_ba0c1f8c525f74999f7a6c5a5fdcfb937a1cf389.jpg

[OmegaV6]

Ouch .... reminds me very much of one we had in the Falklands ... doing a reccy over "Bird Island" of all places ....... this was the "temporary" repair to return to UK, whereby it went to Cambridge for several weeks !!


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1600x1200/12_repaired_e87e5e24661a2f9868eec828b94710d704e88572.jpg

[cynicalint]

To paraphrase a Nimrod SNCO in beam window post bird-strike on landing at Gib:-
"Crew Chief, Captain, damage report please"
Captain Crew Chief, I'm no vet, but I don't think it will fly again"
((c) R**^** F, Nimrod AEOp).

[N707ZS]

Strange angle of entry or was there a duct somewhere to catch the bird, must have been a big one.

[Una Due Tfc]

Strange angle of entry or was there a duct somewhere to catch the bird, must have been a big one.

Pitots etc?

[ShyTorque]

Looks like it was wearing a crash helmet!

[N707ZS]

Had a quick search for a photo of the damaged area without damage and this photo appeared of damage to a Spanish example again by bird strike. They don't seem to do well against our feathered friends.

https://www.aviation24.be/military-aircraft/spanish-air-force/airbus-a400m-suffers-birdstrike-while-landing-at-zaragoza-air-base/

[NutLoose]

It must have been static when it entered

[StopStart]

Strange angle of entry or was there a duct somewhere to catch the bird, must have been a big one.

No protrusions there, just static vents. Guess the impact just punctured the skin and then peeled it back....


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/639x530/03_b3944_b_7_c5_a_4_e7_a_ad67_d9_f5312_ac5_f0_9fccacbe0fb948 e83274f01824c62f75b91f4cc7.jpg

[TBM-Legend]

These "plastic" budgies don't like taking hits it seems...

[N707ZS]

So against hostiles you could be a sitting duck....

[treadigraph]

If it was a duck, to whom do they send the bill?

[Green Flash]

It was a deliberate attack, the aircraft was being Stork'd ....

[ORAC]

They were only winged.....

[treadigraph]

Was a prop feathered?

[dctyke]

Don’t the RAF have the organisation and skills to do permanent repairs to this sort of damage any more?

[CAEBr]

Isn't that one out in Spain at the moment. Manufacturer's test flight ? MoD's No Claims Bonus should be unaffected unless EADS try to claim it was like that when they dropped it off :oh:

[sturb199]

These "plastic" budgies don't like taking hits it seems...

Nothing "plastic" about that piece of skin, very much aluminium!

[sturb199]

Don’t the RAF have the organisation and skills to do permanent repairs to this sort of damage any more?

They do indeed still have the organisation and skills, 71 Inspection and Repair Sqn based at RAF Wittering are the specialists.

[Just This Once...]

I complement the pilot for their extreme low-flying skills. Hitting a chicken was unfortunate.

[dead_pan]

Strange angle of entry or was there a duct somewhere to catch the bird, must have been a big one.

Given the dimple ahead of the main hole, it looks as though this wasn't the first point of impact. Maybe it rolled along the fuselage and thought "OK, here will do"?

Has the PPRuNe accident investigation board been convened to collate the FlightRadar data, ATC comms, structural plans of the Atlas, recipe options for the carcass etc etc?

[ShyTorque]

The bird was on the right. Shouldn’t they have given way to it? :)

[Green Flash]

They did remember to de-frost it first, right? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun)

[hoss183]

Are they A400s fitted with a galley? 'Lunch just got delivered sir'

[esscee]

"Just a scratch" as John Cleese said many years ago.

[sittingstress]

It was a deliberate attack, the aircraft was being Stork'd ....

I bet the engineers were not choughed.

[Chu Chu]

Given the dimple ahead of the main hole, it looks as though this wasn't the first point of impact. Maybe it rolled along the fuselage and thought "OK, here will do"?

It seems odd to me for it to roll along like that and still be hitting the fuselage with much force. Presumably the normal airflow over the static ports is parallel to the skin.

On the other hand, the dimples forward of the hole look (at least to my uneducated eye) like they reflect closely spaced frames behind the skin. But no structure is visible through the hole itself. Maybe that has something to do with it.

[aeromech3]

Took a Marabou Stork to do that sort of damage, similar area, to a BAC1-11 over Kenya circa 1975, don't build them like that anymore.

[G-ARZG]

C'mon Ppruners, no Metars yet?

[Shackman]

From Beverley days - who was overtaking who? Or was the bird so surprised at overtaking it turned round for another look!

[BDAttitude]

Alors, fetchez le poulet!

[scarecrow450]

How's the bird. ?

[sycamore]

It was after the co-pilots lunch boxes......

[jmmoric]

It must have been static when it entered

That was actually fun as hell :E

[cpt]

That's good the second world war bombers were not made of plastic ! )))))

[Dan Gerous]

I heard the ECM exploded when they fired off the Chiff Chaff.

[atakacs]

There was another one (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/632339-a400m-damaged-bird-strike.html) a month or so ago, also in Spain.. seems there are lots of large birds there, some with turboprops.

[Two's in]

No protrusions there, just static vents. Guess the impact just punctured the skin and then peeled it back....

You can see where it deforms the skin as it travels backwards, with obvious deflections around the frames. It might have just left a big gouge, but when it hit the static pressure assembly, it ripped that and the associated skin out. There was a lot more more simple skin to hit than electronic or air data gubbins, so that chicken was not having a good day.