Bird hits passenger jet landing at Heathrow leaving a large bloody dent on its nose

The plane remained grounded for 21 hours until a replacement was found

The plane was grounded for 21 hours before the nose was replaced (Amir Hashim/Facebook)

A bird has struck a passenger jet leaving a large dent in its nose as it was coming in to land at Heathrow.

The EgyptAir flight from Cairo was grounded for 21 hours after the incident before a replacement nose could be located.

Pictures of the damage show a large exposed dent in the Boeing 737-800 complete with blood and feathers.

The aircraft, which had 71 passengers on board, managed to safely land at the airport on Friday, reports the Aviation Herald.

Amir Hashim, a Senior Procurement Specialist for Egyptair, posted these images on to Facebook.

Mr Hashim wrote alongside the photographs:"SU-GDZ operating yesterday evening's MS779 arrival suffered a bird strike on approach.

"The damage caused is clearly evident and SU-GDZ will be grounded until a new radome is fitted. Now, who has a spare?"

These photos were uploaded onto Facebook by the airline's Senior Procurement Specialist (Amir Hahim/Facebook)

The Independent has contacted Egyptair for comment.