keefer

This is a photo of the body of Lt. Howard W. Keefer (USAAC). Keefer was piloting a US Army Air Corps Boeing PW-9D (Ser. A.C. 28-37) fighter when it collided in mid-air with a Maddux Air Lines Ford Trimotor (NC9636; c/n 5-AT-10), on April 21, 1929, causing both aircraft to crash upon/near Manzanita Canyon in San Diego. Keefer was killed when he jumped from his stricken aircraft and opened his parachute too soon, causing it to become entangled with his airplane as it plummeted to the ground (note the parachute risers adjacent to the aircraft's crumpled rudder). In addition to Keefer, all five persons aboard the Trimotor perished as a result of the crash. See: aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19290421-0 disasteroushistory.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-first-mid-air... Howard William Keefer (1892-1929) - Find-A-Grave See also (and comments):

The article at centre appears to be in reference to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago.

An example of how messages were literally sent up to the crew of the record-setting Fokker C-2 "Question Mark". At that time Carl "Tooey" Spaatz spelled his last name using only a single "a". See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_Mark_(aircraft)

Note the handwritten caption "Keifer" on the photo. This identifies one of the men in the photo as a pilot of one of the Boeing PW-9D "blackboard aircraft" that was sent aloft to send messages to the crew of the "Question Mark," during its long endurance flight from January 1 to January 7, 1929. He may be at the controls or writing the message along the fuselage, we cannot be sure. However, it is almost certain that the spelling is incorrect (as is his identity in some sources), and "Kiefer" is actually Lt. Howard W. Keefer, US Army Air Corps pursuit pilot. At least one published source identifies one of the "blackboard" aircraft pilots as "Lt. Homer W. Kiefer," belonging to the 95th Pursuit Squadron. However, that would appear to be incorrect. Homer W. Kiefer, a 1920 graduate of West Point, was an artillery officer, who rose through the regular US Army ranks to become a general. There is no record of Kiefer ever being associated with the Army Air Corps, and certainly not as a pursuit aircraft pilot. Gen. Homer Watson Kiefer (1898-1976) - Find-A-Grave Entry for Homer Watson Kiefer in Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. - From Its Establishment in 1802 to 1890; Supplement Volume VI-B, 1910-1920; Page 2150. It is almost certain that the "blackboard" aircraft pilot in question is actually Army Air Corps pursuit pilot Lt. Howard William Keefer (1892-1929), assigned to the 95th Pursuit Squadron. Keefer would perish three months later as a result of a mid-air collision with a Maddux Air Lines Ford Trimotor (NC9636) on April 21, 1929. Keefer is identified in the Air Corps Newsletter as taking part in the efforts supporting the "Question Mark" endurance flight - archive.org/stream/aircorpsnewslet131929unit/aircorpsnews...

Air Corps News, VOL. III, NO. 2, January 31, 1929 - Information Division - Air Corps; Munitions Building - Washington, D.C. GROUND OPERATIONS ON "QUESTION MARK" REFUELING FLIGHT . . . Page 23, The same afternoon, December 31, 1929, Lieuts. H.W. Keefer and R.V. Williams, took off in two "Blackboard" PW-9 planes for the Metropolitan Airport." Page 25, LIST SHOWING OFFICERR AND ENLISTED PERSONNEL CONNECTED WITH GROUND OPERATIONS OF REFUELING PROJECT 2nd Lt. H.W. Keefer - Pilot Blackboard Plane

As is his passing months later -

Air Corps News, VOL. III, NO. 7, May 16, 1929 - Information Division - Air Corps; Munitions Building - Washington, D.C. Page 173 DEATH OF LIEUT. KEEFER Second Lieut. Howard W. Keefer, Air Reserve, 95th Pursuit Squadron, Air Corps, while testing a PW-9D airplane on April 21st last, collided with a Maddux tri-motored passenger monoplane. This accident over the outskirts of San Diego occurred at an altitude of about 1800 or 2,000 feet. Lieut. Keefer was instantly killed when his ship fell out of control and crashed into a canyon. The Maddux plane, according to witnesses, fell to the ground, bottom side up. Both pilots and one passenger were dead when reached by rescue parties. The remaining two passengers were dead before the ambulance reached the hospital. Lieut. Keefer learned to fly while he was employed at the Rockwell Air Depot. He applied for a reserve commission and one year's active duty and has completed nearly ten months of this duty when the fatal crash occurred. He was Assistant Engineering Officer of the 95th Pursuit Squadron, and when the accident was engaged in a routine test flight in a ship which had just had a new engine installed. He is survived by his widow and his mother.

See also: Howard William Keefer (1892-1929) - Find-A-Grave