Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Faved Flyer Visits Washington - Wash, D.C. - Photo shows the crowd pressing forward for a glimpse of Howard Hughes, well known sportsman flyer, as he arrived at Washington Airport in an American Airliner. Photo Credit ACME. 7-21-38. New York Bureau."
Howard Hughes under the propeller of his Douglas DC-3 aircraft. The photo was taken right before or after his first flight since the nearly fatal XF-11 crash in 1946.