Christophe Keckeis from Neuchâtel, who died on May 1 at the age of 75, was chief of the Swiss Army from 2004 to 2007. During his long military career, he was a brilliant fighter pilot, chief of the air force and chief of the general staff. He led the major reform Army XXI and later chaired the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces.

Christophe Keckeis was a passionate photographer, in his private as well as his professional life. He photographed a lot of his flights in fighter planes, taking advantage of his images for military training and even for postcards.

On March 24, 1977, over Payerne airport, he escaped the worst with his camera in hand. He had taken a seat in a two-seater Mirage III to take photographs of a formation flight. Shortly before landing, one of the fighters made a sudden maneuver, hitting the plane Christophe Keckeis was in. Flying at low altitude, the three pilots had just enough time to activate their ejection seats before the planes exploded. They were recovered on the ground with varying degrees of injuries. Christophe Keckeis had broken ribs and some metal debris in his body.

His Asahi Pentax SV also escaped the violent collision, the brutal ejection (the acceleration was 20 to 23 G) and the eventful return by parachute to the ground. Various marks on the prism and the body of the aircraft still testify of the accident. The Asahi Pentax was equipped that day with a removable light meter which did not resist to the crash. Christophe Keckeis continued to use his faithful 35mm SLR. He then entrusted it to his son Bastian, today a naturalist guide, so that he could take up photography. Bastian Keckeis recently entrusted us with this camera which bears the stigma of an unusual history.

Manufactured from 1962 to 1968, the Asahi Pentax SV was a popular camera at the time, known for its reliability, compactness and ergonomics. It was entirely mechanical, without an exposure metering cell. The Japanese SLR could receive the “Pentax Meter” cell that clipped onto the eye-level system. It was equipped with a standard Super-Takumar 55 mm f/1.8 lens.