The nose of a jet airliner that is barely few meters from pilot’s cockpit suffered a severe damage from birds hit in Sudan on Sunday. /AviationWG Photo

The domestic flight J4341 was hit after taking off from Ad Damazeen to Khartoum, around 45 minutes into flight. /AviationWG Photo

It was a close call for the pilot who managed to land the plane safely despite the fact the front of his plane was badly damaged. /AviationWG Photo

Bird strikes are a significant threat to flight safety, and have caused a number of accidents resulting in human casualties. The statistics for worldwide bird strikes are unavailable, but in the US alone, there have been 24 deaths from 1990 to 2013, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). /AviationWG Photo