Keith Duncan aka "X-Forces"

derg said:
I'm crushed to report that we lost a great personal friend of many of us and a member of Jetcareers, Keith Duncan.

Keith passed away today in Curacao on a layover.

We don't have the full details quite yet, but he's not with us any more. He was swimming (or diving) and he had been down too long, but by the time he was found, it was too late.

We were finally able to get in contact with his two children which is why everyone didn't hear earlier.

A lot of us are absolutely heartbroken.

When there are more details I can share, I will. It's very fresh and raw at the moment.

Thanks for being a friend, Keith. :(

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So incredibly sad to hear this tragic news! Keith was a good man. I was fortunate to have him as my FO on my first trip out of OE as a captain at AE. I’ve still not processed this. R.I.P., Keith!
 

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I’m so bummed by this news. Keith was an awesome dude, a great mentor (in aviation and life), an outstanding father, and an amazing friend.

I still look back fondly at us doing a brake job in his garage on my POS Kia. Him giving me • about my weight and then him telling me how proud he was of me when I lost it. He seemed so happy in life as of late and this just isn’t fair.

Take care brother, I’ll miss our monthly calls catching up on each others life.

-James
 
Hello JC community. Please don't be alarmed. I am one of Keith's friends who's incredibly close to this tragedy. His son, Theo, had access to his laptop which is why I'm able to login and post this.

Keith's daughter and my daughter have been BFF's since 2nd grade. When Keith was on the job, my wife and I were designated as the ICE contacts for his children. He regularly checked in with my wife to ensure we were still good with the arrangement, and we always obliged without hesitation. I've made similar requests of siblings should anything ever happen to my wife & me, but it's one of those commitments you hope & pray you never have to fulfill. This past Sunday was that tragic day.

I want to assure everyone who knew, loved, and admired Keith that his children, while obviously devastated by their loss, are safe & healthy. We've told them that we can never be their parents, but that we will do everything in our power to be there for them as much or as little as they want us to be.

I will write more shortly...
 
I discovered @derg's post while searching for more information about Keith's accident. We are still awaiting the results of the autopsy, but I'm fairly certain that Keith suffered a medical event (perhaps a stroke) which rendered him unable to swim or even remain buoyant. In addition to being an accomplished helicopter & airline pilot, Keith was also a Master Diver. And anyone who knew Keith was well aware of his fitness and physique. There is NO way he suddenly forgot how to swim. There had to be a contributing factor that precipitated this.

While he and his beloved girlfriend, Jessica, were not too far from shore, nobody could hear her screams as she desperately tried to swim him back in. By the time help arrived, he still had a weak pulse and they spent 30+ minutes trying to resuscitate him. Tragically, to no avail.

More coming...
 
So you may be wondering why I feel the need to post to this community? I have several reasons...

First, I knew Keith, but I didn't know much about his other friends or colleagues. I am not a pilot. I consider a flight successful if I remember to fasten my seat belt, put my tray-table in an upright & locked position, don't lock myself in the bathroom, and have my phone with me when I deplane.

So it was wonderful to hear such heartfelt stories, to many of which I can personally relate. But more importantly, I think it's been very healing and gratifying for his children and girlfriend to read your posts since it's likely they never heard these stories or knew how highly other people thought of Keith. In my tribe, we refer to people like Keith as a true "mensch." In addition to the stories you've shared, I encourage any of you with others to please continue to post to this thread.

Keith and I mainly bonded over car stuff. Keith taught me more about working on and repairing cars than anyone else I knew. But more importantly, and among his many gifts that some of you have mentioned, he instilled confidence in my ability to repair things I never thought I could. If I screwed something up (which I almost ALWAYS do) or needed help, Keith would always say, "I've got something to fix that. I'll be right over." And he always was. If I needed some oddball tool I'd call Keith and more often than not he'd say, "Yeah, I think I've got one of those and I'll bring it right over."
 
@X-Forces - I’m part of the Phoenix circle that came together Sunday to piece-together somewhat of a task force. I’m going to send you a message through the forum software with some names and numbers so we all can be of assistance to Jessica, the family and you guys plus share some notes on our efforts.
 
derg said:
@X-Forces - I’m part of the Phoenix circle that came together Sunday to piece-together somewhat of a task force. I’m going to send you a message through the forum software with some names and numbers so we all can be of assistance to Jessica, the family and you guys plus share some notes on our efforts.
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@derg - Thank you so very much. If you have any questions, please feel free to share those as well and I will do my best to answer.
 
The second reason I'm posting here is because we've yet to locate or receive documents (e.g., Death Certificate) which would allow Keith's son to receive any life, AD&D, or other insurance benefits, access to bank & brokerage accounts, etc. We are going to try and fill the gaps until he does, but we're considering a GoFundMe page to assist with any living and upcoming legal expenses. Should we pursue this option, I will post information here if anyone wants to contribute and/or share the link with others.
 
Lastly, while I can obviously Google looking for Family, Estate, Trust, or Tax attorneys, I always prefer to get a referral if any of you have them. Much like @derg, feel free to PM this account or post to the thread.

Thank you all so very much. Jessica and his children have been very touched by your thoughts and kindness. And if Keith were here, I know he'd never be more proud, humbled, and grateful for all that you've shared...
 
thepedroid said:
dude, every single time he and I spoke it was always for 1-2 hours and we'd be like damn.... we've been on the phone a long time. lets catch up again later haha. Such a good dude.
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I'm really greatful he spontaneously came out and brought that badass bike of his when you hit him up for dinner 2 years ago, never thought that'd be it. That was a great night, and beyond all the fun and nonsense I genuinely did take away a lot from him that night, which was the last time I saw him.

Just chatted with him the other day for the first time in a while and even from that little bit I'm confident that he was incredibly happy with his life and in a very good place. Supportive and non-judgmental while still type A and hardassed as always haha. Just from the bits I knew him, he obviously went through a lot of risky sacrifices when his success in the 121 world was far from guaranteed and in turn created a secure and promising future for his family. He was always very proud to talk about not only his kids but his next planned moves to support their next stage of life. Gone decades too soon, but he did his job as a father which was very important to him, all while still finding time to invest in the people around him as well.

A story I never actually told anyone but those I was working with at the time about Keith is something I'll share here:

When I was in the ramp tower one day with Air Force One and thunderstorms causing 90 min gate hold + a runway 28 congaline at SFO, a B6 pilot kept not only giving me crap during his wait, but also jumping in on other transmissions telling other pilots how screwed they're about to be or what a circus the ramp was (you know, as he sits in a gate). Bashed the city and state at least once as well. He was insanely jealous that I was warning inbound pilots doing turns to call clearance + gatehold as the outbound flight while taxiing in (or even holding for a gate) and lie about being ready for push to jump the que (lol it totally worked and helped get more planes parked), whereas he showed up to the jet to do a transcon and got a legit 90 min wait past being ready. Eventually, we got into it in one of very, very few times I ever actually got pissed on the mic (it was very busy and I was surely wrapped up in some female related crisis mentally). I had posted something about it on Snapchat back before I eventually gave most of the JC crowd reasons to delete that app many moons back. He saw it and asked some questions and I eventually showed him a clip and he recognized the guys voice and was like "Oh, I know this guy", then went on to tell me how it's embarrassing the guy would go out of his way to try and gas light me and start "kicking and screaming" out of boredom and contempt for the Bay Area (his own interpretation of the clips). I didn't really care, every day is a dumpster fire if you work in an ops role at a major hub airport so you just forget and move on. A few months later the guy randomly gave me a quick apology "for being a ding bat during the Obama delay a while back" after a handoff. I was really surprised and hit up Keith. And right away my phone blows up with "Aw yeah man I flew with him, we get along and I reminded him he's not in an F18 anymore and serving your country isn't a free pass to be a jerk. Talked to him vet to vet. Sounds like he learned something on that trip". Despite these being my only 2 interactions with Keith in probably a 2 year period, he still got involved, remembered I was upset by it, did the whole "Hey, listen" with some ex-USMC fighter CA just because he was a Richard to me one time long ago, and the dude respected Keith enough to actually bring it up to me later and apologize. And I had a but a fraction of the relationship with Keith many people on this site had. What a guy. RIP friend.
 
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ChasenSFO said:
I'm really greatful he spontaneously came out and brought that badass bike of his when you hit him up for dinner 2 years ago, never thought that'd be it. That was a great night, and beyond all the fun and nonsense I genuinely did take away a lot from him that night, which was the last time I saw him.

Just chatted with him the other day for the first time in a while and even from that little bit I'm confident that he was incredibly happy with his life and in a very good place. Supportive and non-judgmental while still type A and hardassed as always haha. Just from the bits I knew him, he obviously went through a lot of risky sacrifices when his success in the 121 world was far from guaranteed and in turn created a secure and promising future for his family. He was always very proud to talk about not only his kids but his next planned moves to support their next stage of life. Gone decades too soon, but he did his job as a father which was very important to him, all while still finding time to invest in the people around him as well.

A story I never actually told anyone but those I was working with at the time about Keith is something I'll share here:

When I was in the ramp tower one day with Air Force One and thunderstorms causing 90 min gate hold + a runway 28 congaline at SFO, a B6 pilot kept not only giving me crap during his wait, but also jumping in on other transmissions telling other pilots how screwed they're about to be or what a circus the ramp was (you know, as he sits in a gate). Bashed the city and state at least once as well. He was insanely jealous that I was warning inbound pilots doing turns to call clearance + gatehold as the outbound flight while taxiing in (or even holding for a gate) and lie about being ready for push to jump the que (lol it totally worked and helped get more planes parked), whereas he showed up to the jet to do a transcon and got a legit 90 min wait past being ready. Eventually, we got into it in one of very, very few times I ever actually got pissed on the mic (it was very busy and I was surely wrapped up in some female related crisis mentally). I had posted something about it on Snapchat back before I eventually gave most of the JC crowd reasons to delete that app many moons back. He saw it and asked some questions and I eventually showed him a clip and he recognized the guys voice and was like "Oh, I know this guy", then went on to tell me how it's embarrassing the guy would go out of his way to try and gas light me and start "kicking and screaming" out of boredom and contempt for the Bay Area (his own interpretation of the clips). I didn't really care, every day is a dumpster fire if you work in an ops role at a major hub airport so you just forget and move on. A few months later the guy randomly gave me a quick apology "for being a ding bat during the Obama delay a while back" after a handoff. I was really surprised and hit up Keith. And right away my phone blows up with "Aw yeah man I flew with him, we get along and I reminded him he's not in an F18 anymore and serving your country isn't a free pass to be a jerk. Talked to him vet to vet. Sounds like he learned something on that trip". Despite these being my only 2 interactions with Keith in probably a 2 year period, he still got involved, remembered I was upset by it, did the whole "Hey, listen" with some ex-USMC fighter CA just because he was a Richard to me one time long ago, and the dude respected Keith enough to actually bring it up to me later and apologize. And I had a but a fraction of the relationship with Keith many people on this site had. What a guy. RIP friend.
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That's Keith. Hot damn. Missing him.
 
From Facebook:

With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Keith Duncan, age 53, who departed from this world too soon. He leaves behind a legacy of love, adventure, and inspiration, survived by his cherished son Theo, beloved daughter Tara, and devoted girlfriend Jessica.

Keith's life was a testament to his boundless passion for adventure and the great outdoors. An avid diver and outdoor enthusiast, he found joy and solace in exploring the wonders of the world. Whether diving into the depths of the ocean or trekking through rugged terrain, Keith's adventurous spirit knew no bounds.

Above all else, Keith was immensely proud of his two children. He dedicated himself wholeheartedly to their upbringing, single-handedly raising them while pursuing a successful career as a commercial pilot. His commitment to his children was unwavering, and he took great pride in their accomplishments.

As a pilot, Keith was not only a skilled aviator but also a mentor and inspiration to those entering the aviation field. He generously shared his knowledge and expertise, offering advice, flying lessons, and guidance to aspiring pilots. His passion for aviation was contagious, and his impact on the aviation community will be felt for years to come.

Keith also served his country with distinction for 10 years in the military, starting as a mechanic and rising to become a skilled helicopter pilot. His journey was marked by resilience, dedication, and a steadfast commitment to excellence.

Keith was a man of immense love and compassion. His caring nature and genuine affection touched the lives of all who knew him. He wore his heart on his sleeve, giving love freely and unconditionally to those around him. Though his journey was not without its challenges, Keith faced them with courage and resilience, always emerging victorious.

In his spare time, Keith could often be found at the gym, maintaining a remarkable level of fitness despite his fondness for sugary treats. His dedication to his health and well-being was just another testament to his discipline and determination.

Keith Duncan will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. His memory will live on in the hearts of those he touched, and his legacy of love and adventure will continue to inspire us all. May he rest in peace, knowing that his spirit will forever soar among the clouds.
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derg said:
From Facebook:



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He has a larger portrait version of Theo's graduation photo in his living room. I wept when I saw it there last night, but it's one I'm going to use if we need to setup a GoFundMe page. This whole this is so wrong, so unfair, and so sad. 😢 Someone "up there" made a huge f'ing mistake and took the wrong guy, but they got one of the best...
 
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