Commando 42-101051

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando [erroneously listed by many as a C-46D-5-CU]

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-101051

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30506

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1042

FATE: Written off

  September 1944 to October 1945

  42-101051 - USAAF (USA)

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13 September 1944

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

Aassigned to I Troop Carrier Command at Baer Field, IN.

Unknown date

Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command, 813^th AAF Base Unit based at Sedalia AAF, MO.

25 April 1945

Damaged at Sedalia AAF, MO in a taxi accident.

Pilot: 1^st Lt Lee Rolland Call, instructor

  October 1945 to December 1947

  42-101051 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

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26 October 1945

Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.

  December 1947 to June 1949

  NC92857 - STRATO-FREIGHT INC. (USA)

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20 December 1947

Purchased from the War Assets Administration. [or RFC? Date 30 December 1947 according to NTSB]

Registration also listed as N92857.

12 April 1948

Airworthiness certificate issued.

27 March 1949

Left engine changed.

30 April 1949

Right engine changed.

11 May 1949

Annual inspection performed.

4 June 1949

Flew from Newark, NJ to San Juan Isla Grande, PR.

7 June 1949

Ditched 10 km west of San Juan, PR after an engine failed on takeoff (53/81 fatalities).

Crew:
Capt. Lee Howard Wakefield
Capt. Alfred Cockrill
F/O John Patrick Connell
F/O George Stone Cary

The Commando was operating a non-scheduled passenger flight between San Juan Isla Grande, PR and Miami, FL with 6 crewmembers and 75 passengers onboard. On the ground in San Juan before the flight, the flap follow-up cable was replaced, and both engines were checked. Since the right engine misfired during the check, 13 new spark plugs were installed. Shortly before midnight, the 75 passengers boarded the aircraft – since there were only 65 seats in the cabin, some seats were occupied by two passengers. Although the weight & balance manifest for the flight indicated a total weight of 44,500 pounds, the aircraft actually weighed 48,709 pounds, which was 3,709 pounds in excess of the 45,000 pounds MTOW. At approximately 00:10, the aircraft taxied to runway 27 where the pre-takeoff check was accomplished at which time engines and flight controls operated normally. Takeoff was accomplished at 00:21 after San Juan Tower had transmitted an instrument clearance to the flight authorizing it to cruise at 8,500 feet to Miami. One minute after the aircraft left the ground, at an indicated airspeed of approximately 115 mph and at an altitude of 250 feet, the right engine began to backfire severely and lose power. No attempt was made to feather its propeller. An emergency was declared, and the tower cleared the flight to land on runway 09. But since airspeed was low and altitude could not be maintained, the aircraft was flown straight ahead for a crash landing 200 meters off the shore at Punta Salinas. During the six-minute period that the aircraft remained afloat, the crew pushed two uninflated life rafts into the water and furnished several passengers with life jackets. Considerable confusion existed during the ditching operation since none of the passengers had received any instruction in the location or use of emergency equipment. Of the 81 occupants, only 23 passengers and five crew members survived.

The probable cause of the accident was attributed to installing a wrong model of spark plugs in the right engine, which received damage from the heat in the combustion chamber. The loss of power then led to a crash due to the overloaded condition of the aircraft. Strato-Freight’s AOC was revoked as a consequence of this accident, the world's deadliest at the time.

Total airframe time 2,002 hours.