Commando 43-47003
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-5-CK Commando
USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47003
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 74
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK51
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
September 1944 to August 1945
43-47003 - USAAF (USA)
28 September 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Louisville, KY.
11 November 1944
Assigned to ATC North African Division.
27 November 1944
Assigned to ATC India-China Division, 1333rd AAF Base Unit, Chabua, Assam, India.
Christened "Stork".
31 August 1945
Went missing over the Himalayas (3/3 missing).
Crew:
2nd Lt. Arthur H. Rogers, Pilot
F/O Clyde C. Finley Jr., Copilot
TSgt. Donald Frega, Radio Operator
The Commando went missing on a return flight to its Chabua, Assam, India base after having delivered cargo to Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Condemned for salvage, missing.
15 September 1945
Wreckage located by a jungle rescue unit in Arunachal Pradesh, 56 km northwest of Chabua, Assam, India.
7 October 1945
Crew found dead by a ground search party, and remains repatriated.