 This resulted in Hickam's initiation into the famed "Caterpillar Club," a fraternal order with membership based on surviving an emergency parachute jump.Hickam was killed in a landing accident at Fort Crockett, Galveston, Texas, on November 5, 1934.Flying a Curtiss A-12 Shrike, "33-250", of the 60th Service Squadron, he was practicing night landings on an unlighted strip when his aircraft struck an embankment and flipped over.