Date: 201808
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Takeoff / Launch
ATC / advisory: Tower ZZZ
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Ground Event / Encounter Person / Animal / Bird
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Environment - Non Weather Related
Primary problem: Environment - Non Weather Related

Narrative: [During takeoff roll]; having accelerated through 100 kts (roughly at 120 kts) but prior to V1 a very large bird (the size of a duck) struck the FO's front window (R1) sounding and feeling like someone had hit the aircraft with a sledge hammer and momentarily covering most of that window before sliding off to the right. Due to the severity of the impact; the size of the bird; and with no way to verify what else the bird may have struck as it moved aft; I had serious doubts about the aircraft continuing to be is a safe condition to fly so I elected to reject the takeoff. The aircraft smoothly decelerated and came to a complete stop still leaving us with about 3;500 feet of runway remaining. When at a complete stop we ran the RTO (Rejected Takeoff) checklist; requested as a precaution that ARFF come out to the aircraft in case the brakes caught fire. We then verified all were still seated and as the brakes were not overtemping we taxied clear of the runway.We then communicated what happened to the cabin crew and verified all were ok. Then while monitoring the brakes to make sure they just remained hot and not temp critical we advised the passengers of the situation. We contacted Dispatch/Maintenance (who requested we return to the gate) and Operations. Then we verified the aircraft was in a good condition to taxi; that the brakes had cooled; and taxied back to the gate. No passengers or crew were injured so we deplaned the aircraft; sent in an [Maintenance Request] for the bird strike and rejected takeoff and then we notified the [Chief Pilot]. Maintenance came out to inspect the aircraft and verified that the brakes and tires had not been damaged during the RTO and that the bird had not created any secondary damage to the aircraft. During the Maintenance inspection; it was discovered that a gasket/seal had come loose on engine 1 when the reversers were deployed. The technician informed us that this would most likely have happened during a normal landing and reverser deployment was directly due to the RTO.While the left engine was being repaired I continued to coordinate with all crew members that they were ok and could continue once the Maintenance was completed. All cabin and cockpit crew members repeatedly informed me they were good both physically and mentally to complete the trip. [Once maintenance] was completed we coordinated with Dispatch for a new release and [a Maintenance Release]. We then re-boarded the aircraft and departed without any further incidents.




Synopsis: A320 Captain reported rejecting the takeoff after striking a large bird at approximately 120 knots.