More detail on this person: Robert H. McKeegan died in a motorcycle accident on Sept. 14 near his
home in Pioneer, CA. He was 54. McKeegan was wounded and decorated while flying with DMZ Dustoff
as "Dustoff 713" in 1969-70. After the Army, he was the first pilot to fly for Jacques Cousteau. He
spent more than three years with the Cousteaus aboard the CALYPSO and was seen on many
made-for-TV documentaries from Antarctica to Alaska in the early 1970s. McKeegan also worked for
Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing company for more than 19 years, starting as a Hughes 500
production test pilot and rising to chief production test pilot for the AH-64 Apache program. During
those years, McKeegan was seen performing aerobatics in Apaches and Hughes 500s in movies and at
many international air shows and "agility" tests throughout the world.After leaving Boeing, McKeegan
flew for Erickson Air Crane as a firefighting Skycrane pilot. This job also took him all over the
United States and to many far-off parts of the world.McKeegan had friends and colleagues all over
the world and everyone who ever worked with McKeegan knew him to be very humble man, especially
given all of his knowledge, experience and accomplishments. He is survived by his son, Micheal;
daughter, Megan; and brothers Tim and Tom. He was the greatest friend a friend could have and all
who knew him will miss him.
From: Russ Whipple, Charliehorse 34
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 01/11/2025
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