Community Corner

The Award Nomination of First Officer Lyman W. Keele, Jr.

The 1977 crash of Flight 242 at New Hope was the first crash in Georgia involving a scheduled airline flight since 1941, and had the most fatalities regarding a crash within the state boundaries. Local resident, Clifford Davids writes about events surro

I recently sent a copy of my posting entitled “The Daughter of Flight 242′s Copilot Finally Speaks Out” to the Alumni Relations and Development  Offices of the University of Nevada, Reno. The idea was simply to let them know about the heroic life of Lyman W. Keele, Jr., a graduate of UNR Class of 1966. The posting included his daughter Tiffany’s “letter of healing” to the New Hope Community in Paulding County, GA–the area where in 1977 her father force landed a disabled DC-9 that crashed–killing him, the captain, and 70 others. It is a very powerful document, including numerous heartfelt comments from the community, and it has touched hundreds of people here in Georgia and beyond. To my surprise, I received an immediate response from UNR. Juliane DiMeo, the young Alumni Program Manager, asked if I wanted to nominate Lyman for an award, and I said, “Yes.”

I was told there are several categories of alumni awards that will be presented during their annual Homecoming in October 2013–and after reading the various requirements, it appeared that the Alumni of the Year award would suit Lyman best. The University states in their handbook that the person selected must be:

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“a graduate who has rendered special and outstanding service to the University, and by personal achievement has brought distinction to the University.”

I have incorporated my nomination with supporting materials to Juliane in this posting. It  provides UNR with a greater understanding as to who Keele was, the enormity of what he accomplished, and how he saved so many lives on the day he died at only 34 years old. I have been working closely with the New Hope community to tell their story of the crash of Southern Airways Flight 242–they all express to me how Captain William McKenzie and First Officer Lyman W. Keele, Jr. distinguished themselves on that terrible afternoon of April 4, 1977. Both men paid the ultimate price, and their combined efforts in the cockpit that day prevented what could have been an even greater catastrophe.

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May 17, 2013

Juliane DiMeo, Alumni Program Manager

University of Nevada, Reno

Dear Juliane:

I would like to submit the supporting documentation for the nomination of Lyman W. Keele, Jr.–University of Nevada, Reno Class of 1966–for the Alumni of the Year award. My nomination, which was submitted to the UNR on May 13, 2013 can be found here: http://ashevilleoralhistoryproject.com/2013/05/04/co-pilot/

Tiffany Keele Grana, Lyman’s eldest daughter, has provided me with the following list of combat awards, medals, and decorations he received while serving as a fighter pilot aboard the USS Hancock during the Vietnam War:

• Navy Commendation Medal–for “heroic achievement as a pilot of jet aircraft while attached to Attack Squadron 212″ EMBARKED IN USS HANCOCK–there are 3 of these “citations;”

• Air medal-Meritorious Achievement in Ariel Flight–many from July through September of 1972;

• Air medal-gold star (several) 7/7/72:  7/10/72: 7/12/72;

• Air medal-Bronze star (several) 7/13/72;

• Document for decoration–1/23/73–combat;

• Expert in Small Arms; and

• President Carter flew us to Washington, D.C. after the crash (we went with our Congressman Newt Gingrich) and he awarded my dad a Merit Certificate in Recognition to the Service of our country and the Armed Forces of the USA.

First Officer Keele’s commercial pilot qualifications at the time of the crash were as follows (taken from the National Transportation Safety Board’s Aircraft Accident Report dated January 26, 1978, pg. 50, Appendix B):

First Officer Keele initially qualified as a first officer on the DC-9 on August 24, 1973, and he last re-qualified on the DC-9 on March 7, 1976. His last proficiency check was completed in the DC-9 March 28, 1977. His last completed recurrent training on November 30, 1976. During his flying career, First Officer Keele accumulated 3,878 flight hours of which 235 were in the DC-9. In the 90-day, 30-day, and 24-hour periods preceding the accident, he flew 191.7, 84.2, and 8.6 hours, respectively.

You can access the full NTSB report here at:

http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR78-03.pdf

More Dallas-Hiram Patch content:

The Daughter of Flight 242′s Copilot Finally Speaks Out

A Forgotten Hero of Southern Airways Flight 242: Fire Chief John Clayton

Remembering Georgia's Worst-Ever Plane Crash

Visit the Flight 242 Traveling Display

Old Wounds Still Fresh as Plane Crash Anniversary Looms


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