Commando 41-24724

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-25-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 41-24724

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26645

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU285

FATE: Written off

  October 1943 to March 1944

  41-24724 - USAAF (USA)

3 October 1943

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

25 December 1943

Assigned to ATC India-China Wing based at Station 11, Missamari, Assam, India.

20 February 1944

Went missing over the Hump (4/4 missing). [MACR 2819]

Crew:
2^nd Lt Jack Hunter, Pilot
1^st Lt Alfred S. Hemmer, Copilot
Sgt Inman A. Watson, Radio Operator
SSgt John L. Weinberg, Engineer

The Commando was enroute from Kunming, Yunnan, China to Missamari, Assam, India, flying over the mountainous region of Arunachal Pradesh. The pilot got lost in heavy rain falls, and fuel was running low. He called Chabua for a bearing, but radio contact was very poor. Chabua shot bearings on the ship and instructed the pilot to let down. He wanted to bailout, but Chabua assured him it was OK to let down from 12,500 ft to 8,000 ft. The pilot was also receiving bearings and instructions from Jorhat, which may have caused even more confusion for him. The last radio contact was as follows:

Pilot: “We are at 8,000 feet, can you see my lights? Can you see my lights! We are still in the rain.”
Chabua: “Negative on the lights.”
Pilot: “TC. TC. There's that mountain again. (30 second interval) Oh, we may hit it yet! (noise like lightning a few seconds later or possible crash of the airplane)”

It was presumed the plane crashed into a mountain. The ground bearings turned out to be erroneous, so the aircraft could not be located.

[date also quoted as 25 January 1944 by JB]

15 March 1944

Condemned for salvage.

5 May 1945

Crew declared dead.

1 October 2006

Wreckage found near Mangung, Arunachal Pradesh, India. [this location cannot be found anywhere]