A PILOT has spoken of the shocking moment a seagull smashed through the window of his helicopter causing him to plummet 800ft.

Phil Robinson was giving Howard Stott a flying refresher lesson when the incident happened as they flew over the Macron Stadium last week.

The 57-year-old said: "We were flying at 1,500ft and just about to climb to do an engine off exercise, then there was this massive bang and suddenly there was something in the cockpit.

"It was quite scary. We hadn't seen the bird and the next thing it had knocked my controls out of my hand and was in the cockpit. I was in shock for a couple of seconds because I didn't know what had happened."

The Bolton News: SEAGULL: Phil Robinson with the bird which crashed through the windscreen of his helicopter

Mr Robinson grabbed hold of the bird, which was killed on impact, and managed to stop it from flapping and put it under his foot.

As the controls were knocked out of his hand by the incoming bird the aircraft plummeted 800ft.

He said: "There's no time to worry or panic when something like that happens because you're just thinking, what's going on?

"We have dual controls so Howard was able to take over the flying but there was a lot of wind coming in obviously because the windscreen had been smashed."

The Bolton News: DAMAGE: The seagull shaped hole in the front of the helicopter

Neither Mr Robinson, of Great Harwood, nor Mr Stott, from Burnley, saw the bird before it hit.

Mr Robinson said: "It was a clear day and normally if we see a seagull we will try to avoid it or they hear the helicopter coming and they fly in a different direction but this one must have come from underneath because we didn’t see it coming at all."

Mr Robinson runs The Flight Academy at Barton Aerodrome and has been flying for 27 years said nothing like that had happened to him before.

He said: "In all my flying time nothing has happened like this and I was speaking to some of the other pilots who have evening more flying hours than me and it hasn’t happened to them. They've never experienced anything like it."

The pair were able to safely land the machine at the City Airport and Heliport, Eccles, following the drama.

The incident didn't deter Mr Stott, who took and passed his flying refresher exam the next day.

The seagull will now have a permanent home at the airfield as Mr Robinson plans to get it stuffed.

He said: "We're going to put it up on the wall as a memento."