Commando 44-77558
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando
USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77558
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32954
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1490
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
December 1944 to February 1946
44-77558- USAAF (USA)
11 December 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command based at Baer Field, IN.
Remained within the continental USA.
February 1946 to 1948
44-77558 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)
7 February 1946
Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.
September 1948 to December 1949
XT-162 - CNAC (CHINA NATIONAL AVIATION CORPORATION) (CHINA)
16 September 1948
Purchased.
13 November 1949
Registration certificate suspended by the Nationalist government.
December 1949
XT-162 - CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT & WHITING WILLAUER (USA)
12 December 1949
Purchased by Claire Chennault & Whiting Willauer, managers of CAT – while the aircraft was at an unknown location. This was part of an attempt supported by the US State Department to regain ownership of several CNAC & CATC aircraft.
December 1949 to January 1953
N8382C - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)
19 December 1949
Transferred to CAT and registered.
27 January 1953
Registration cancelled.
January 1953 to March 1956
N1380N - L. B. SMITH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (USA)
January 1953
Reregistered.
Converted with underwing Turbomeca Palas jet engines.
March 1956 to April 1960
HK-390 - LLOYD AEREO COLOMBIANO (COLOMBIA)
17 March 1956
Purchased and christened "Santa Ines".
Later sold to Intereses Aereo Colombiano and leased back to Lloyd Aereo Colombiano.
19 April 1960
Damaged beyond repair at Bogota El Dorado, Colombia in a landing accident (37/51 fatalities).
Crew:
Jaime Velilla, Pilot (survived)
Enrique Gomez, Copilot (killed)
Gilberto Laverde, Flight Engineer (killed)
Diogenes Rovira, Jumpseater (killed)
Blanca Duarte, Flight Attendant (killed)
Gerdi Wagener, Flight Attendant (killed)
Margarita Zuluaga, Flight Attendant (killed)
The Commando was operating a scheduled passenger flight between Miami, FL and Bogota El Dorado, Colombia with intermediate stops in Barranquilla and Medellin. On the last leg of that flight, it carried 7 crew members and 44 passengers. Around 1900 LT, the aircraft started a night visual approach into Bogota. After extending downwind due to traffic, it turned final for runway 12 and extended the flaps and gear. The approach was flown too low and the Commando hit two trees, then crashed into the Bogota River bank, ending up in a pond 430 meters short of the runway threshold. Rescue efforts were complicated by the fact that firefighters did not have appropriate rescue equipment, and inflatable dinghies punctured when they came in contact with the wreckage. 13 passengers and the Captain could be saved, with most of the fatalities having drowned in the swampy water.
The probable cause of the accident was attributed to the poor flying technique of the Captain, along with his lack of experience - he had mostly copilot time and only 2 hours of night experience on type. Contributing factors were the absence of approach lights and the lack of crew supervision by the airline. The inadequacy of firefighting and rescue service at the country's capital airport was also pointed out.
This accident, which followed the one of HK-870 two days earlier at the same airport, led to the grounding and closure of the airline.
Below: HK-390 making a flyby with the right prop feathered.
Photo credit: unknown
Bottom: a depiction of the accident path and the rescue efforts.
Photo credit: Jaime Escobar / Aviacol.net
Last edited: 03/03/2024