Commando 42-96694
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96694
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30356
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU892
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
August 1944 to April 1946
42-96694 - USAAF (USA)
4 August 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
15 September 1944
Assigned to ATC India-China Division.
Unknown date
Assigned to Karachi, Sindh, India.
April 1946 to March 1956
July 1956 to October 1956
YV-C-ERE - RANSA (RUTAS AEREAS NACIONALES SA) (VENEZUELA)
July 1956
Purchased.
October 1956 to February 1957
LV-PCW - TSA (TRANSCONTINENTAL SA) (ARGENTINA)
29 October 1956
Purchased and given an import registration (“pasavante”).
February 1957 to November 1958
LV-FTP - TSA (TRANSCONTINENTAL SA) (ARGENTINA)
28 February 1957
Reregistered.
11 November 1958
Damaged beyond repair at Buenos Aires Monte Grande, Argentina in a touch and go accident (0/4 fatalities).
The Commando was on a training mission to practice touch-and-goes. During the roll, prior to V1 speed, the left engine failed. The crew shut it down and feathered the propeller when the airplane overran the runway, struck obstacles and crashed in flames. All four crew members were evacuated safely while the aircraft was destroyed by fire.
The cause of the engine failure could not be determined. However, the instructor was blamed for performing a training mission with such an aircraft at Monte Grande, as the runway there was considered too short for this kind of operation. Thus, when the engine failed, the remaining distance was insufficient.
[Several versions of this story exist, some say the Commando made it airborne before crashing, others that it was making an emergency landing at the time]
[Buenos Aires Monte Grande was a small airport located just east of Ezeiza International, in what is today the Luis Guillon suburb of Buenos Aires]
Right: a group of happy passengers posing in front of LV-FTP.
Photo credit: Edgardo Luzzi / www.atvla.org.ar
