Commando 42-96697
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96697
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30359
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU895
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
August 1944 to April 1945
42-96697 - USAAF (USA)
7 August 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
21 September 1944
Assigned to ATC India-China Division.
13 December 1944
Received major damage in Sookerating, Assam, India in a structural failure due to weather.
Pilot: 1st Lt John K. Baisch
[date reported as 14 December 1944 by AB, which says it hit a wire]
Probably condemned for salvage, and later reinstated.
6 April 1945
Went missing over the China-Burma-India theatre following an engine failure.
Pilot: Robert K. Swallen
Condemned for salvage.