From February to June 1934 the 1st Pursuit Group delivered the mail in the north central United States under an executive order of President Franklin Roosevelt (see Air Mail scandal). Original orders called for 35 pilots and 16 aircraft to be detached for mail service, but the Curtiss P-6 Hawk and Boeing P-12 fighters detailed had insufficient cargo capacity potential. Ultimately 56 pilots were listed in group records as detached for mail service, and approximately half the group's 70 aircraft were involved. Six were involved in crashes in the first week, struggling through severe winter weather in Ohio, including one fatality on the first day. Altogether twelve aircraft were lost in eleven crashes, with one pilot and one enlisted man killed, and four pilots and one mechanic injured.