Commando 42-107397
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-107397
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 27084
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU724
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
July 1944 to September 1945
42-107397 - USAAF (USA)
July 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
Assigned to Rosecrans Field, MO.
Unknown date
Assigned to the 2nd Combat Cargo Group, 5th Combat Cargo Squadron, based at Syracuse AAB, NY for training.
19 September 1944
Went missing near Speculator, NY (3/3 fatalities).
Pilot: 2nd Lt. William R. Barohn (killed)
The Commando was conducting a night navigation training exercise and left Syracuse AAB, NY in the evening. While cruising at an altitude of 3,200 feet, it hit the slope of Blue Ridge Mountain located some 20 km northwest of Speculator, NY. All three occupants were killed. SAR operations were suspended after a few days as no trace of the aircraft was found.
August 1945
Wreckage found.