Reminds me of a story of my old CO in VT-3. LtCol Dean Lucas. When he was a young Capt Lucas he was an instructor in the VT's. Sitting in the back seat his aircraft has a bird strike with a Turkey Buzzard coming through the front windscreen.
The carcass hits the student (front seat) in the face and then continues aft to hit Capt Lucas in the face, smashing his visor.
Capt Lucas' face is rapidly swelling and he can barely see. Looking forward he can see that the student's head is slumped over and thinks he's dead. Capt Lucas can't see well enough to land, so he makes a Mayday call and bails out.
Soon, the student wakes up (having been knocked unconscious from the bird strike) and lands the plane without his instructor.
A call sign was born, Dean "Buzzard" Lucas.