Commando 43-47056

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-55-CK Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47056

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 127

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK104

FATE: Written off

  November 1944

  43-47056 - USAAF (USA)

27 November 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Louisville, KY.

  November 1944 to 1956

  50693 - US MARINE CORPS (USA)

27 November 1944

Transferred as R5C-1 and delivered to NAS San Diego, CA.

29 November 1944

Assigned to Homeland Defense Network (HDN), Marine Fleet Air, West Coast.

Assigned to Homeland Defense Network (HDN), MAG-35. [same day!]

February 1945

Assigned to VMR-352 based at MCAS Ewa, HI.

15 May 1945

Assigned to VMR-953 based at MCAS Ewa, HI.

31 May 1945

Assigned to VMR-952 based on Guam, Marianna Islands.

May 1947

Assigned to VMR-252 based at MCAS El Toro, CA.

June 1947

Assigned to NAS San Diego, CA.

August 1947

Assigned to NAS Columbus, OH.

  1956 to unknown date

  N7763B - AAXICO (USA)

1956

Purchased.

  Unknown date to March 1960

  AN-??? - LANICA (LINEAS AEREAS DE NICARAGUA) (NICARAGUA)

Unknown date

Purchased or leased from AAXICO.

  March 1960 to February 1965

  YS-012C - AESA (AEROLINEAS EL SALVADOR SA) (EL SALVADOR)

31 March 1960

Transferred from LANICA to Salvadorian subsidiary AESA as the airline's first aircraft.

Christened "Ciudad de San Salvador".

Operated in cargo configuration, mainly on the San Salvador to Miami, FL cargo route.

13 February 1965

Damaged beyond repair in Miami, FL in a takeoff accident (2/2 fatalities).

The Commando was conducting a night cargo flight between Miami, FL and San Salvador, El Salvador with only two pilots onboard. Shortly after takeoff, the left engine failed. The crew was apparently unable to feather the propeller, thence the airplane could not maintain altitude. Reports vary as to whether the pilot carried out a forced landing or the aircraft stalled and crashed - in any case, the wreckage ended up in an automobile junkyard near the runway end where it caught fire and exploded. Both pilots were killed.

The NTSB report attributed the engine failure to a fatigue fracture of the crankshaft, while the inability of the propeller to feather was apparently caused by oil contamination - both attributed to poor maintenance. The aircraft was also improperly loaded at the time of the accident.

Right: YS-012C in AESA colors, unknown date and location.
Photo credit: Larry Johnson / AV.CA