On Aug. 9, 1931, Lt. Myron Lackey of the 91st U.S. Army Air Corps was fatally injured when the airplane he was piloting crashed on large boulders near Donner Summit.
His passenger, Fred Rupley, an automobile dealer from Auburn, suffered moderate injuries.
Rupley, who had recently purchased the airplane, credited the piloting skill of Lackey for saving his life. Lackey was training Rupley to be a pilot.
That morning, the two men decided to fly Rupley’s plane to Truckee, where they played a round of golf. It was on their return trip that a sudden downdraft near the summit plunged their plane toward the earth, resulting in the tragic crash.
Lackey was rushed to Highland Hospital in Auburn, where doctors amputated his right leg in an effort to save his life, but he died of his injuries the next day.
Lackey graduated from Roseville Union High School and spent time studying the law under former Placer County District Attorney Orrin Lowel. But, when the U.S. entered the Great War, he enlisted. He trained as a pilot at Mather Field in Sacramento and did so well, the Army transferred him to Kelly Field in Texas, where he trained other pilots for the duration of the war.
He had over 3,000 hours of flying experience and he used all of it to control his falling plane in such a way both men had a chance to survive.
Lackey is interred at the Presidio Cemetery (San Francisco National Cemetery).
Photo: Clipping of the Aug. 10, 1931, Sacramento Bee – Lt. Lackey is on the left, Fred Rupley is on the right.
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