A WARPLANE strikes a seagull at an airshow display — shattering the cockpit canopy. 

Incredibly the pilot was un­harmed and able to land the £73million Eurofighter safely. 

A photographer captured the split-second strike over the San Javier Air Base in Murcia, Spain, on June 15. 

But snapper Javier Alonso de Medina Salguero said he realised what had happened only after checking his photos. 

They show the gull swooping into the path of the jet, before the bird is hit and smashes a giant hole in the canopy. 

A huge cloud of debris can then be seen exploding out from the pilot’s cockpit area

Javier added: “I was at the base in the San Javier area, at the site where they took us photographers.

“We were watching the Eurofighter display when we saw it leave without finishing.

“They reported over the radio it hit a seagull.

“I had the whole sequence.”