The Pilot, the Lion and the Crash: MGM’s Extraordinary 1927 Publicity Flight

The verdict: the central story is real. In September 1927, pilot Martin Jensen attempted to fly an MGM lion from California to New York in a specially modified aircraft. They crashed in Arizona, both survived, and local rescuers brought the lion out. The University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center holds Jensen’s papers, including photographs and newspaper clippings about the flight. This is more than an unsupported internet anecdote. ^[1][2]

A publicity stunt with a very large passenger

The American Heritage Center identifies the departure as September 16, 1927, from San Diego. The aircraft was a modified Ryan B-1 Brougham with a cage, additional fuel capacity, and milk and water tanks. Its passenger was Jackie, one of the animals presented to audiences under MGM’s familiar “Leo the Lion” identity. ^[1]

Jensen was not a novice hired for a joke. His archival biography records an aviation career as a barnstormer, instructor and aircraft designer. He had finished second in the Oakland-to-Honolulu Dole Air Race earlier that year. ^[2]

The promotional flight ended in remote Arizona terrain. The archive’s account describes a storm; a detailed PHOENIX magazine history emphasizes the heavily loaded aircraft’s difficulty gaining altitude over the Mogollon Rim. In an archival photograph caption, Jensen himself recalled warning the aircraft’s engineers that it could not get over the mountains. These are historical accounts, not a newly reviewed accident-investigation finding. ^[1][3]

Finding help—and getting the lion out

Jensen left supplies for the caged lion and set off on foot. The accounts agree that he reached help after several days and that local ranch hands assisted in the rescue. ^[1][3]

The much-shared line, “How’s the lion?”, appears in both the American Heritage Center’s retelling and PHOENIX’s account of his telephone call to MGM. It is a sourced historical anecdote, but we have not located a recording or contemporaneous transcript establishing the exact words. ^[1][3]

The archive also recounts a ranger initially refusing Jensen telephone access because the line was needed for the missing-pilot search. PHOENIX describes a call from Apache Lodge after ranch hands helped him. The colourful ranger exchange should therefore remain attributed to the archive’s account, not presented as independently settled detail. ^[1][3]

PHOENIX describes rescuers hauling the cage on a makeshift sled with mules, then taking the lion by truck to Payson. Both histories associate the crash with the name Leo Canyon. Their accounts differ about the lion’s subsequent journey: the archive says New York by truck; PHOENIX says a return to Hollywood. The rescue itself is much better established than that onward itinerary. ^[1][3]

“Without a scratch” is too tidy

The Facebook post says both occupants escaped without a scratch. The American Heritage Center similarly describes no injuries, but PHOENIX reports minor injuries to Jensen and later treatment of sores on the lion. The careful summary is simply that both survived—not that every source agrees they were entirely unhurt. ^[1][3]

Jackie, Leo and the movies

“Leo the Lion” was the studio’s mascot identity, used for different animals; Jackie was this lion’s individual name. Smithsonian’s account places Jackie’s recorded roar in MGM releases from 1928 to 1956 and connects him with The Wizard of Oz. That long screen career refers to the continued use of his image and recording, not continuous filming of a living lion over all those years. ^[4]

The social post’s picture is a three-panel collage. We inspected it but have not authenticated each panel against an archival original, so it is not republished here as verified documentary photography. The American Heritage Center’s article provides captioned photographs credited to Jensen’s collection. ^[1]

Managing expectations: Enjoy the astonishing story. Its documentary foundation is real; the most polished dialogue and smallest narrative details deserve attribution rather than certainty.