Commando 42-101070

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-101070

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30525

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1061

FATE: Written off

  September 1944

  42-101070 - USAAF (USA)

15 September 1944

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

  September 1944 to August 1948

  39571 - US MARINE CORPS (USA)

15 September 1944

Transferred as R5C-1 and delivered to NAS San Diego, CA.

October 1944

Assigned to Homeland Defense Network (HDN), MAG-35.

December 1944

Assigned to VMR-352, probably based at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.

January 1945

Assigned to Homeland Defense Network (HDN), MAG-35.

June 1946

Assigned to VMR-253 based at MCAS Miramar, CA.

September 1946

Assigned to MAG-25 Service Squadron (Servron-25).

February 1947

Assigned to NAS San Diego, CA.

23 July 1947

Overhauled at NAS San Diego, CA.

August 1947

Assigned to VMR-352, based at MCAS Ewa, HI.

September 1947

Assigned to VMR-153, based at MCAS Tsingtao, Shandong, China.

  August 1948 to November 1957

  N10425 - AEROVIAS SUD AMERICANA (USA)

August 1948

Registered.

6 November 1957

Damaged beyond repair in Guatemala City, Guatemala in a crash landing following an engine failure (2 ground fatalities).

The Commando took off from Guatemala City runway 01 at 11:18 LT on a cargo flight to Belize. Takeoff was uneventful and the aircraft climbed out straight ahead at 120 knots. At 11:25 LT, while climbing through 3,000 ft AGL (8,000 ft AMSL), left engine oil temperature reached 102°C, oil pressure dropped to 50 lbs and the engine started backfiring. Power was reduced to 1,800 RPM and 30" MAP. The copilot requested a landing clearance for Guatemala City runway 19 as the aircraft was turning back. Several minutes later, the engine quit completely; it was feathered and METO then takeoff power wer applied to the right engine. This could not prevent the aircraft from losing altitude, and as they were descending through 1,000 ft it clear the aircraft would not reach the airport. The crew prepared for a forced landing, but had to change their mind several times on a suitable landing area due to people on the ground. In the end, the Commando was landed between a highway and houses. It struck power lines and trees and crashed into a residence, killing two people on the ground and injuring three others while the crew walked out uninjured.

The investigation revealed that the left engine had quit due to a fatigue failure of the crankshaft. The aircraft had been properly loaded, and the crew was trained in accordance to standards, so the reason why single-engine flight could not be maintained was never determined.

[AB mentions reports of this Commando in Congo in 1963, in Venice in July 1963 and in AAXICO's records between 1964 and 1970. This seems very unlikely as N10425's wreckage was scattered over a large area and partly consumed by a post-crash fire]