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.

"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

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

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"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



Hence the modifier "probably." And if he had have died anyway he would have
at least done it after he had spent many, many hours doing something that he
obviously dreamed about doing.

"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Hence the modifier "probably." And if he had have died anyway he would
have at least done it after he had spent many, many hours doing something
that he obviously dreamed about doing.

Well, IMHO "probably" doesn't even come close to the true likelihood (except
inasmuch as even a trivial modification to his life might have cause a
completely different outcome...in that respect, "being a pilot" is no
different than "dropping his toothbrush").

As far as "doing something that he obviously dreamed about doing",
well...not accomplishing that is a problem for anyone who dreams about being
a pilot but doesn't ever become one, even if they die at a ripe old age.

I think it's awful that anyone would die in such a way, but it seems even
more awful to try to make a case that simply being a pilot would somehow
confer immunity to such events.

But then...the new Peter says I should lighten up. Maybe the fact that I
just don't see the point of the comment "he would probably be alive today"
just has to do with the "heaviness" I apparently carry around with me.

Pete

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Hence the modifier "probably." And if he had have died anyway he would
have at least done it after he had spent many, many hours doing
something
that he obviously dreamed about doing.

Well, IMHO "probably" doesn't even come close to the true likelihood
(except
inasmuch as even a trivial modification to his life might have cause a
completely different outcome...in that respect, "being a pilot" is no
different than "dropping his toothbrush").

As far as "doing something that he obviously dreamed about doing",
well...not accomplishing that is a problem for anyone who dreams about
being
a pilot but doesn't ever become one, even if they die at a ripe old age.

I think it's awful that anyone would die in such a way, but it seems even
more awful to try to make a case that simply being a pilot would somehow
confer immunity to such events.

But then...the new Peter says I should lighten up. Maybe the fact that I
just don't see the point of the comment "he would probably be alive today"
just has to do with the "heaviness" I apparently carry around with me.

Pete


I'm sorry, Pete,

I really don't know just what posts I might have momentarily combined;
because upon rereading the thread, yours is the one that I agree with.

Perhaps I need to lighten up.

Peter

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.

"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!