Commando 44-77544

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77544

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32940

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1476

FATE: Written off

  December 1944 to September 1947

  44-77544 - USAAF (USA)

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December 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.

  September 1947 to unknown date

  44-77544 - USAF (USA)

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18 September 1947

Transferred.

Unknown date

Assigned to the 435^th Troop Carrier Group, Medium, 78^th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium based in Miami, FL.

11 April 1951

Received minor damage in a bird strike north of Labelle, FL.

Pilot: Willard H. Huffman

  Unknown date to December 1957

  44-77544 - CALIFORNIA EASTERN AVIATION INC. (USA)

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Unknown date

Probably leased from the USAF by California Eastern Aviation.

  December 1957 to October 1961

  44-77544 - USAF (USA)

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20 December 1957

Assigned to the Arizona Aircraft Storage Squadron and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

2 October 1961

Departed Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

  October 1961 to June 1964

  N105Z - US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USA)

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October 1961

Transferred from USAF and assigned to the US Forest Service, based in San Francisco, CA.

  June 1964 to June 1965

  N10592 - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

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10 June 1964

Purchased.

1 July 1964

Registered.

22 June 1965

Registration cancelled, exported to Chile.

  June 1965 to February 1967

  CC-CDH - ALFA (AEROLINES FLECHA AUSTRAL) (CHILE)

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4 June 1965

Purchased.

1966

Assigned to a contract to carry freshly slaughtered meat daily between Mendoza, Argentina and Santiago, Chile.

3 February 1967

Damaged beyond repair at La Yareta Pass, Chile in an accident (0/4 fatalities). [location not identified]

Crew:
Capt. Gustavo Justo Latorre
F/O Hernan Nunez Olivares
Eng. Arturo Nicolas Vazquez
Eng. Juan Guzman

The Commando was operating a cargo flight between Mendoza, Argentina and Santiago, Chile with 5 tons of meat and four crew members on board. The aircraft crashed into terrain at La Yareta Pass, Chile, 3,000 meters elevation, for unknown reasons. All occupants survived with burns, and one of them was seriously injured.

 

Right: remains of the wreckage still visible on 3 June 2021 at La Yareta Pass.
Photo credit: Guillermo Blugerman / ASN

Below: CC-CDH, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: unknown