Commando 42-96732

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96732

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30394

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU930

FATE: Written off

  September 1944 to April 1946

  42-96732 - USAAF (USA)

1 September 1944

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

1 October 1944

Assigned to ATC India-China Division.

Unknown date

Assigned to Karachi, Sindh, India.

   April 1946 to November 1956

  42-96732 - INDIAN GOVERNMENT (INDIA)

10 April 1946

Purchased.

  November 1956 to August 1962

  N7772B - AMERICAN AIRMOTIVE CORPORATION (USA)

November 1956

Purchased.

29 August 1957

Registered.

Ferried from India to Miami, FL.

Converted to C-46R.

3 August 1962

Registration cancelled.

  August 1962 to January 1967

  SE-EDR - TRANSAIR SWEDEN (SWEDEN)

7 August 1962

Left Miami, FL for Sweden on delivery flight. Total airframe time 2,904 hours.

31 October 1965

Withdrawn from use and stored in Malmo, Sweden.

[AB mentions a sale to Transavia Sweden, but this must be an error, no reference to this anywhere]

Right: SE-EDR, Southend, UK, February 1954.
Photo credit: Alan D. R. Brown / Wikimedia Commons

Below: SE-EDR, unknown date & location. Unlike its Transair Sweden sibblings, SE-EDR never flew for the UN in Congo.
Photo credit: www.transairsweden.com

  January 1967 to June 1969

  PP-BUE - PARAENSE TRANSPORTES AEREOS (BRAZIL)

3 January 1967

Left Malmo, Sweden for Brazil on delivery flight.

10 January 1967

Arrived in Belem, Brazil on delivery flight.

10 March 1967

Registered.

Below: PP-BUE on Paraense’s ramp in Belem, Brazil on 9 October 1968.
Photo credit: Wesley Minuano / Airliners.net

  June 1969 to April 1970

  PP-BUE - FAIRCHILD-HILLER CORPORATION (USA)

4 June 1969

Traded in as part of the sale of six FH-227 to Paraense Transportes Aereos.

Stored in Miami, FL.

19 December 1969

Registration cancelled.

  April 1970 to 1973

  CP-916 - TABSA (TRANSPORTES AEREOS BOLIVIANOS SA) (BOLIVIA)

17 April 1970

Purchased.

  1973 to 1977

  CP-916 - COMPANIA SUDAMERICANA C & S (BOLIVIA)

1973

Purchased. [1972-1974 according to AB]

  1977 to October 1983

  CP-916 - TRANSPORTES AEREOS BOLIVAR (BOLIVIA)

1977

Purchased.

28 October 1983

Damaged beyond repair in La Paz, Bolivia in a landing accident (0/5 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a cargo flight from El Salvador, Bolivia to La Paz, with 3 crew, 2 passengers and 5000 kg of meat onboard. Enroute at 17,000 feet, the left engine failed with two loud bangs. Dense smoke entered the cabin. The crew proceeded to shut down the engine. Efforts to feather the propeller failed and the engine continued to burn. The crew expected not to be able to reach La Paz, located at an elevation of about 13,000 feet. The two passengers tried to jettison packages of meat through a partly opened cargo door as the plane kept descending over down-sloping terrain. Finally a forced landing was carried out on rocky terrain near a river in a suburb of La Paz located at an elevation of about 10,700 feet. The engines separated on impact and the airplane was destroyed.

Left: CP-916 probably at La Paz El Alto, Bolivia on 5 December 1977, freshly bought by Transportes Aereos Bolivar.
Photo credit: Christian Volpati / Wikimedia Commons