Possible bird strike at the Bastille Day flypast

Quetzalcoatlus northropi had a wingspan of probably 10 m, but it's been estimated as high as 26 m. It's just that the first pterosaur that was discovered was fairly small.

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CactusPete@reddit

Thank you for saving my childhood dreams (assuming we're still talking dinosaurs - my Latin is rusty)

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peteroh9@reddit

We were never talking about dinosaurs. 😏 Pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs 🤓

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CactusPete@reddit

Perhaps technically true.

But.

They are to me!

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peteroh9@reddit

But um ackshually dinosaur is a precise, scientific term and calling a lowly pterosaur a dinosaur is incredibly rude.

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Juan_PH_16@reddit

I’ll be sad for the pilots but pterodactils flying around would make 2025 better 😬

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rasmis@reddit

If I saw that headline, I'd probably sigh and close my windows. If they were back, I'd imagine human intervention, and thus risk of abuse. PterodaXtils™.

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hglf@reddit (OP)

That does make me feel slightly better!

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noncongruent@reddit

If you frame by frame you can see the bird is still flying after the planes pass. It appears it was pretty far away on the other side of the planes.

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Wide_Jellyfish1668@reddit

But where did the bird go? (I'm not disagreeing, I don't WANT it to have been a bird strike, I'm just genuinely not sure where the bird goes after the "strike")

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ASDFzxcvTaken@reddit

It it was an actual bird strike where it got sucked into the propeller all you would see if anything, is a pink puff and maybe some feathers.

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bassplaya13@reddit

You can see if fly past. It just looks like it disappeared because it’s darker under the wing. But it comes directly right out of the back of the empennage.

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Fizzafarian@reddit

He is correct. Full-screen the video. The bird lives!

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omn1p073n7@reddit

Gigachad prop plane unaffected unlike virgin turbojets

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Taptrick@reddit

Bird strikes are a non-event on turboprops. They get cuisinart’d before they ever touch a compressor blade.

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That’s a Swallow, probably one of the smallest birds you can find (relative to crows and pigeons and other stuff usually present in cities). In this video it looks almost as large as a single blade of the engine, so definitely isn’t close to the plane at all. Just POV.

Also if a swallow did hit the engines in reality it’s j likely the plane would even flinch. I’m pretty sure some species of bugs can do more damage to that engine than a poor swallow

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BeanOnAJourney@reddit

It was a Swift, not a Swallow.

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boerni666@reddit

What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

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csl512@reddit

Indicated, true, or calibrated?

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Zn_Saucier@reddit

Before or after it comes in contact with an A400M prop?

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PigSlam@reddit

It's a simple question of weight ratios...

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rasmis@reddit

What would happen to the prop, if the swallow was carrying a coconut?

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Motorsav@reddit

An African or European swallow?

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Le-Croissant@reddit

Tbh I think they both swallow the same

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ASDFzxcvTaken@reddit

Yeah but the beak is different and that makes a big difference.

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Le-Croissant@reddit

All I know is guys hate it when there’s too much beak

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welguisz@reddit

But why would an African swallow need to migrate?

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stovenn@reddit

Oh the usual stuff...lack of food, water, employment, career prospects.

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BeanOnAJourney@reddit

If you slow it down you can see it flies under the wing and away to the right of the frame. No strike, bird is fine, planes are all fine.

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waltarrrrr@reddit

Culling of the summer pigeons.

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BugFixBingo@reddit

Not unless the bird has a 10' wingspan.

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BugFixBingo@reddit

https://imgur.com/a/FVlNqSD

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Dickinbutt_Cuminbath@reddit

I expected a meme

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whooo_me@reddit

...or part of the bird...

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BugFixBingo@reddit

Nah it's wings are still flapping, it's just the camera angle. The bird is way below the A400 and much closer to the ground.

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Murky-Science9030@reddit

Do prop engines survive bird strikes better than jet engines?

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Neat_Butterfly_7989@reddit

It may have. But these are props so you just get a sliced bird:)

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ViciousNakedMoleRat@reddit

Filet-O-Finch

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Hoosagoodboy@reddit

Shredded Tweet

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TheRealtcSpears@reddit

In French that's called a Royale with Finch

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Alpha_Majoris@reddit

In Amsterdam they would serve mayo with it

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loasdrums@reddit

Those look like J model C-130s to me. All C-130s have turboprop engines. Each of the propeller assemblies is powered by a jet engine.

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JasonEll@reddit

Airbus A400M most likely given it's France but the point about the engine still stands.

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loasdrums@reddit

I stand corrected, thank you. I noticed the high vertical stabilizer but thought it to be a variant for EU forces. I served on C-130s, so my bias is showing. Thanks for correction.

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eidetic@reddit

They're A400Ms, not C-130s.

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Drewbox@reddit

Even if it was a turbofan like most airliners there’s still a high change it just gets chopped up and spit out the back of the bypass.

Planes ingest birds all the time. Only a small percentage become an issue.

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LupineChemist@reddit

Yeah, the reason US1549 was so damaging was it was a whole flock of geese, so fairly sizeable birds.

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SwissCowOnMoon@reddit

You can actually see it flying towards the right part of the video frame after the "bird strike".

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rckid13@reddit

I don't think that hit. As it flies away past the plane it still looks like... a bird flying. If it actually hit the plane it would be a ball of flying feathers and a mangled mess.

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ency6171@reddit

Unrelated. Many military cargo/transport plane formation always have the cargo door of the leading plane open. Is there any special reason for that?

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silberloewe_1@reddit

You can take neat pictures from there.

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Bad_Karma19@reddit

Inconclusive.

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Boforizzle@reddit

So for the aviation guys here. Would a prop engine be as affected as a jet turbine? Or would it be more resilient

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ABritishCynic@reddit

Shredded tweet.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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72corvids@reddit

Paris has thousands of Common Swifts that are almost always in flight. Like swallows, they're extremely maneuverable and light on the wing. I'd reckon that a swift would have no problem getting out of the way of an A400 just chugging along in a straight line. 👍🏾😁👍🏾

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TokoloshNr1@reddit

You could throw an ostrich at these big boys and they won't even bat an eyelid.

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StPauliBoi@reddit

no, if you slow it down, you can see in later frames that it's still flapping both of its wings as it flies away safely :)

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Whalez2Dank@reddit

I know it’s not relevant to the discussion at hand, but my god the A400Ms are cool as hell.

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Intergalatic_Baker@reddit

Oh well, nice flypast.

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EcureuilHargneux@reddit

Beautiful shot of beautiful planes in a beautiful formation

Rip for the bird tho

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Jenny_Tulwartz@reddit

Not even close.

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Flying_Birdy@reddit

I know the usual concern with bird strikes is that they can screw up the engine, but what about bird strikes on the cockpit window or airframe? It looked like to me that bird hit the body, so I'm assuming it just went splat. But I'm curious as to what industry standards there are to bird proof the rest of the plane.

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OpenImagination9@reddit

“It slices, it dices …”

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Consistent-Welder458@reddit

What's the purpose of such flypast? Seems like an unnecessary waste of resources doesn't it

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CharacterUse@reddit

Aircrew have to train anyway, they can do a flypast for the taxpayers or fly over an empty field.

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Consistent-Welder458@reddit

Ah so its more so for training? No wonder we hear about so many air show deaths and accidents

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blinkersix2@reddit

This is a beautiful fly by. I’d love to see something like this with C130’s or C17’s

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Dabclipers@reddit

Man, I've never been a fan of the aesthetics of Euro mil-aircraft (Delta wing's are just ugly as sin, sorry Europe) but the A400M is positively gorgeous. As classic looking as the C-130 is this thing is on a whole other level in the looks department.

I do give respect to the Tornado as well, that thing is pretty as a picture.

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