Video still of a hole in the nose of a United Airlines Boeing 737 after colliding with a bird on a Denver International Airport approach (© The Denver Channel, http://aka.ms/BirdPlane)

This is what it looks like when a bird crashes into a plane

8/1/2012

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a plane that was hit by a bird and -- holy crap, that's terrifying! United Airlines Flight 1475 struck a bird as it approached the Denver airport, a collision that left the Boeing 737 with a massive hole in its fuselage. "Passengers probably wouldn't have felt anything, but the pilot certainly would've heard the smack of the bird on the nose," aviation expert Steve Cowell said. None of the 151 passengers were injured, although we don't blame any of them for feeling nauseous if they saw the aftermath. Speaking of aftermath, the lingering "bird residue" will be sent to the Smithsonian, where experts will examine its DNA to determine its species. [Source]

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