Commando 42-96712

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96712

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30374

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU910

FATE: Written off

  August 1944 to March 1946

  42-96712 - USAAF (USA)

20 August 1944

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

Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command, based at Baer Field, IN.

Unknown date

Moved with I Troop Carrier Command, assigned to 807^th AAF Base Unit based at Bergstrom AAF, TX.

20 November 1944

Damaged at Bergstrom AAF, TX in a taxi accident.

Pilot: Emmett L. Bennett

  March 1946 to 1948

  42-96712 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

26 March 1946

Transferred to RFC and stored at Ontario AAF, CA.

  1948 to 1949

  N4849N - UNKNOWN (USA)

1948

Purchased from RFC by an unknown private operator.

  1949 to 1961

  TI-1007 - LACSA (LINEAS AEREAS COSTARRICENSES SA) (COSTA RICA)

1949

Purchased.

4 December 1957

Received major damage in Volcan Angel, Costa Rica. [location cannot be identified]

Pilot: Captain Azevedo

The Commando was carrying a cargo of meat. It crashed due to bad visibility. The left wing and engine, and the landing gear were damaged.

Repaired.

  1961 to August 1973

  TI-1007C - LACSA (LINEAS AEREAS COSTARRICENSES SA) (COSTA RICA)

By 1961

Reregistered. [by 1954 according to JB, but it was still TI-1007 in 1957 according to ASN]

Right: a wrinkled yet historical shot of TI-1007C taken in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1968.
Photo credit: Jorge Rafael Solano Rodriguez / www.aviacioncr.net

  August 1973 to September 1979

  TI-LRA - LACSA (LINEAS AEREAS COSTARRICENSES SA) (COSTA RICA)

24 August 1973

Reregistered and christened “Boruca” (the name of a Costa Rican tribe). [1974 according to Aerobernie]

Left: TI-LRA sitting under the sun of San Jose, Costa Rica.
Photo credit: Christian Volpati / Airliners Gallery
Below: “Boruca” at its San Jose, Costa Rica base.
Photo credit: The Samba Collection / Air Team Images

  September 1979 to January 1980

  N8064E - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

September 1979

Purchased.

19 October 1979

Registered.

6 February 1980

Registration cancelled.

Above: C-46 Parts’ N8064E in Miami, FL on 29 September 1979, still wearing its old registration but with LACSA titles removed.
Photo credit: R. A. Scholefield / www.airhistory.net
Right: N8064E seen in Miami, FL in February 1980, probably only days before leaving for its last assignment in Nicaragua.
Photo credit: Larry Johnson / Flickr

  January 1980 to May 1980

  YN-BVL - LANICA (LINEAS AEREAS DE NICARAGUA) (NICARAGUA)

30 January 1980

Purchased.

16 May 1980

Damaged beyond repair in Bonanza, Nicaragua in a landing accident (no fatalities).

The Commando was operating a scheduled flight to Bonanza. Upon landing, it struck a ditch and crashed.