Pilot safely lands fighter jet after bird strike causes fire in engine

A navy carrier airman managed to land his plane after it hit a flock of birds and its left engine caught fire during a training session, reported cctv.com on Aug 17.

Yuan Wei, flying the J-15 fighter jet, started his training with another plane at around 8:00 am.

Less than one minute after taking off, Yuan's jet encountered the bird flock and it got hit right away. His helmet recorder captured the moment on video when the flock hit the plane.

Yuan kept calm and managed to control the plane with the help of instructions of the control tower and his companion in the other jet even though the left engine was on fire.

A pilot is supposed to abandon the jet if the plane has lost all control. Fortunately, Yuan was able to steer the jet.

The plane had a forced landing after Yuan tried twice to land it. The firefighting truck arrived in one minute to put out the blaze.

Yuan successfully landed the jet under more than 50 instructions in less than 11 minutes of the accident.