Diving eagle breaks windshield

HELENA – A Helena man got a scare while driving home from Missoula on Interstate 90 when a 2-foot-tall eagle crashed through his windshield, just missing his face.

Pete Rath, a service technician, was returning home Thursday afternoon when he noticed the bird.

“I saw it come down like it was going to land in the lane next to me,” he said Friday. “I just had time to get my foot on the brake, and bam, it hit my windshield.”

Rath was driving 75 mph in his Chevrolet Astro van when the incident occurred.

He recalled two impacts – one when the bird struck the windshield, the second when the glass broke and the raptor entered the cab.

Rath said the bird was heading directly toward his face.

“I put my hand up and swatted at it,” he said. “I darned sure didn’t expect it to come through the windshield like that.”

The eagle – which had a wingspan wider than the van – struggled down between the seats.

Rath suffered a cut on his hand but was otherwise uninjured.

“It rattled me quite a bit,” he said.

He called the Montana Highway Patrol, which in turn called a veterinarian. The bird died 15 minutes after the accident.