Red Arrows: Sqd Ldr Gregor Ogston recalls airshow bird strike

Sqd Ldr Gregor Ogston was unharmed during the incident and was escorted back to the airfield at Hawarden airport

A Red Arrows pilot has described the moment his aircraft's cockpit canopy smashed when it was hit by a seagull during a display.

The bird strike happened as the Lincolnshire-based aerobatic team were performing in Rhyl on Sunday.

Gregor Ogston, Red 6, said the impact caused him to instinctively close his eyes and duck just before a high-speed stunt with one of his team mates.

"He whizzed past my left wing as my canopy shattered around me," he said.

Sqd Ldr Ogston, who is in his fourth season with the Reds, said it had been "quite an eventful day".

He described the bird strike as "a lot more dramatic than anything I had experienced before"

"I was running down the display line at about 400mph pointing at Red 7, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a seagull.

"I pretty much closed my eyes and ducked at that point because it was so close and the bird hit the canopy, which unfortunately shattered and the bird and lots of canopy flew into the cockpit," he said.

"I was almost flying blind for a couple of seconds," he added.

He said the seagull had also given him "a glancing blow" on the side of his helmet, which was badly damaged in the incident.

'Flying the aircraft with my knees'

The Lincolnshire-based aerobatic team are known for their breathtaking airborne stunts with multicoloured vapour trails

Sqd Ldr Ogston told BBC Radio Lincolnshire that although bird strikes were quite common this one was "a lot more dramatic than anything I had experienced before".

"The initial impact was quite disorientating," he said, adding that "the noise was incredible".

"I'd liken it to driving down the motorway at 70mph with all your windows fully open - imagine doing that at 400mph.

"Even with my helmet on and my earplugs in the noise was just phenomenal," he added.

A significant amount of debris also went into the engine, he said, adding that luckily the Rolls-Royce engine "chewed it up" and kept running all the way back to landing.

Sqd Ldr Ogston's helmet was damaged in the incident

Sqd Ldr Ogston, who grew up in Aberdeenshire, said the real difficulty had been communicating on the radio what had happened due to his mask being "ripped from my face" during the incident.

"To transmit on the radio I had to use my left hand to push the button - my right hand to hold the mask to my face because it was no longer attached to my helmet and that left me flying the aircraft with my knees briefly," he added.

However, praising the response from his team mates and ground crew, Sqd Ldr Ogston said he had managed to maintain consciousness and fly the aircraft away safely from the crowd and then position it for a recovery back to the nearest airport, about 8-10 minutes away.

In a post on Twitter, he added: "Thank you to everyone for the kind messages and good wishes. As ever, our well rehearsed emergency procedures, togetherness and training resulted in a safe outcome."

The Red Arrows are performing at the Bournemouth International Airshow this week, and Sqd Ldr Ogston said he is looking forward to getting back in the cockpit again.