Is not flying safe?

Plane enthusiast dies in freak accident
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/24/2006

Mark Birke never pursued a pilot's license because his wife worried
about his safety.

So he became an airplane enthusiast. He hung model jets in their
Webster Groves home. He named his dogs after planes. "Airplane" was
among his son's first words.

But even though Birke was grounded, his death was linked to his love of
aircraft. A car hit Birke on Thursday morning as he and a crowd of
tourists snapped photos of jets taking off from Eglin Air Force Base in
northwest Florida.

Birke, 31, who lost a leg in the impact, died at a hospital in
Pensacola, Fla., the next evening. The driver, an airman attached to
the 96th Medical Group at the base, also was killed. Another tourist
suffered minor injuries, officials said.
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Birke and his father, Charles Birke of Hazelwood, were visiting the
base with the F-4 Phantom II Society, an airplane enthusiast club. This
was the third year they pair had joined a similar tour.

Mark Birke, a purchasing specialist at a St. Louis steel company, first
learned about planes from his father, an aircraft mechanic for Boeing.
Mark Birke decided to join the club after his brother, David, who also
loved planes, died five years ago of cancer.

"He wanted a way to honor his brother and have something he could do
with his dad to keep him active," said his wife, Angela Birke.

Mark Birke drove to Florida with relatives for a vacation last week. He
left his wife and son in Tallahassee with family while he and his
father joined the Phantom convention, a five-hour drive away.

They were among 110 tourists who gathered at Tyndall Air Force Base
near Panama City for the convention. They rode in charter buses to
Eglin, near Fort Walton Beach, and were unloading near the airfield
when the accident happened about 9:40 a.m. Thursday.

Air Force officials say Brett A. Jakubowski, of Arvada, Colo., swerved
onto the grassy area where the tour group had gathered, plowing into
the two victims. His car returned to the roadway and crossed lanes into
oncoming traffic.

The airman then hit a fuel truck head-on, according to a release from
the air base.

Angela Birke said she would remember her husband as a clever, caring
man who was always creative.

"Our house is full of furniture he made. Whatever we needed, he just
created it," she said. "He could do anything with his hands."

The Birkes met at a St. Louis University High School mixer when they
were teenagers. They married five years ago. Their son, Miles, is 1.

"He never was happy unless he was making someone else happy," Angela
Birke said. "It's amazing how many people relied on him to make them
laugh."

Mark Birke enjoyed punk rock music, drawing cartoons and playing the
guitar for his son at bedtime. Angela Birke said she didn't want her
husband to become a pilot because his cousin had died in a plane crash.

"He could hear a jet and tell you what kind it was just from the
sound," she said. "But he never flew."
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

"Gene Seibel" wrote in message
oups.com...
Plane enthusiast dies in freak accident
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/24/2006

Mark Birke never pursued a pilot's license because his wife worried
about his safety.


Terrible story that basically boils down to the fact that if his wife hadn't
bitched and let him learn to fly he would probably be alive today.

Flying is safe.
Crashing is dangerous, so don't crash.
And when your time's up, it's up. The particular way you go is
irrelevant.
That's what I believe.

My $0.02

The particular way you go is
irrelevant.

Oh, I don't know about that. I don't mind dying, I just don't want to
be there when it happens.

Apologies to Woody Allen.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"texasflyer" wrote in message oups.com...
: Flying is safe.
: Crashing is dangerous, so don't crash.
: And when your time's up, it's up. The particular way you go is
: irrelevant.
: That's what I believe.
:
: My $0.02
:

The whole trick is to control how quickly you stop....

"Jose" wrote in message
et...
The particular way you go is
irrelevant.

Oh, I don't know about that. I don't mind dying, I just don't want to be
there when it happens.

Apologies to Woody Allen.

Jose

I wanna go to heaven, but I don't wanna die!

"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Terrible story that basically boils down to the fact that if his wife
hadn't bitched and let him learn to fly he would probably be alive today.

Any number of things, including having shown up at the airport that day just
a little earlier or a little later, would likely have changed the outcome.

However, I know lots of people who *are* pilots who still do stuff like
standing around watching *other* pilots fly. I see no reason to suggest
that this guy lost his life *because* he wasn't a pilot. That's just
absurd. He could just as easily have been standing where he was whether or
not he was a pilot.

Pete

Flying is not any more unsafe than lots of other activities people
engage in during their 'leisure' time. It's just less forgiving if
you are a moron.

One of my flight students went up to a major jumping get-together up
in West Virginia last week (he is also a parachute jumper). One
guy died, and two others were injured during the "event". I asked
him tonight about it and he seemed fairly matter-of-fact about it.

Terrible story that basically boils down to the fact that if his wife
hadn't bitched and let him learn to fly he would probably be alive
today.

Any number of things, including having shown up at the airport that day
just
a little earlier or a little later, would likely have changed the outcome.

However, I know lots of people who *are* pilots who still do stuff like
standing around watching *other* pilots fly. I see no reason to suggest
that this guy lost his life *because* he wasn't a pilot. That's just
absurd. He could just as easily have been standing where he was whether
or
not he was a pilot.

Pete


C'mon Pete, Ya gotta lighten up. ;-)

Peter

I wanna go to heaven, but I don't wanna die!

Steve Foley, runway three one, cleared for takeoff.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.