The Curtiss Commando Page
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Commando 42-96689

Aircraft Identification

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96689

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30351

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU887

FATE: Written off

Operational Record

  August 1944 to March 1945

  42-96689 - USAAF (USA)

8 August 1944

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

15 September 1944

Assigned to 20th Air Force, XX Bomber Command, 2nd Air Transport Squadron (Mobile), based at RAF Kalaikunda, Bengal, India.

31 October 1944

Moved with 2nd Air Transport Squadron to Dergaon, Assam, India.

November 1944

Moved with 2nd Air Transport Squadron to Luliang, Yunnan, China.

27 February 1945

Damaged beyond repair in Yangkai, Yunnan, China in a landing accident (no fatalities).

When arriving in Yangkai, the crew chose the wrong runway and landed with a tailwind, increasing the landing roll. The aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran the runway and came to rest in a ditch.

[location misspelled by most sources, and sometimes confused with Yantai, Shandong]

4 March 1945

Condemned for salvage as Class 26.