Commando 42-96600
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96600
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30262
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU798
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
July 1944 to 1955
42-96600 - USAAF (USA)
13 July 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
3 August 1944
Assigned to ATC North African Division.
Unknown date
Assigned to Cairo Payne Field, Egypt.
23 July 1946
Condemned for salvage, probably by the Army-Navy Liquidation Commission, but apparently not broken up.
1955
N9904F - SANDAY & CO. (USA)
1955
Purchased.
Ferried from Cairo Payne Field, Egypt to Venice, Italy for overhaul at Officine Aeronavali.
1955 to December 1955
N9904F - RIDDLE AIRLINES (USA)
1955
Purchased.
17 December 1955
Damaged beyond repair near Hollywood, SC after a structural failure in flight (2/2 fatalities).
The Commando was operating a cargo flight between Wilmington, NC and Jacksonville, FL. While in cruising altitude, the aircraft suddenly pitched down, went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in a cornfield located near Hollywood, SC. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire, while both crewmen were killed. The accident was caused by an in-flight structural failure resulting from a violent pitch-down induced by the erratic action of nonconforming elevator tab controls.