April 17, 2009

Pilot Wants Others To Share In His Lesson

There are a lot of things on Bob Behren’s mind as he prepares his Piper Aerostar for flight.

“Checking the flaps to see if there are any obstructions,” said Behren as he walked around the Tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport.

The veteran pilot will even let a rookie help with the checklist.

“Doors,” said WPBF News 25’s Cathleen O’Toole, reading from the pre-flight list.

“Doors are locked,” answered Behren.

Behren had a similar smooth takeoff one afternoon last year. But midflight, he collided with a turkey vulture.

“When the bird was approaching, just before it hit, I saw it,” said Behren.

The bird’s carcass was all over the cockpit and the cabin. It smashed the windshield in an almost perfect circle.

But that wasn’t the only damage. The turkey vulture hit Bob in the face and bounced back to the back of the cabin. Bob believes he was briefly knocked out.

“I was dizzy. I couldn’t see because I had blood in my eyes,” said Behren.

A former military fighter pilot, Behren learned a lot from the experience. Airborne, he now knows, birds can be the enemy.

“I didn’t take them seriously; now I take them very seriously,” said Behren.

Behren recommends flying as high as appropriate for the mission as most bird strikes occur below 3,000 feet. He also said a pilot should descend upon seeing a flock of birds, because frightened birds will break downward. Also, Behren recommends using landing lights and radar that can clear birds away.

Behren said his experience is a bit different from that of Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger, whose bird strike forced an incredible landing on the Hudson Bay earlier this year.

Still, nothing will change for a man who has spent his life with wings.

“If you have an accident playing sports, you don’t just quit playing, and I didn’t feel that I should just quit flying after all of these years of enjoyment that I’ve gotten from it, just because of one incident,” said Behren. “People have accidents all the time; they don’t stop living.”