Commando 44-77300

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77300

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32696

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1232

FATE: Written off

  October 1944 to December 1944

  44-77300 - USAAF (USA)

23 October 1944

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

Assigned to the 4^th Combat Cargo Group, 16^th Combat Cargo Squadron.

18 November 1944

Ferried out of Morrison Field, FL toward Sylhet, Bengal, India.

Crew:
1^st Lt. Jack Wright Jr., Pilot
2^nd Lt. Jack D. Oyler, Copilot
SSgt. Frank J. Bottino Jr., Crew Chief
Sgt. Walter F. Cathell Jr., Radio Operator

4 December 1944

Ferried through Karachi, Sindh, India.

Mid-December 1944

Arrived in Sylhet, Bengal, India with the 16^th Combat Cargo Squadron.

19 December 1944

Damaged beyond repair 40 km west of Yazagyo, Burma in an accident (3/[3 or 4] fatalities). [MACR 11093] [AB mentions a forced landing]

Crew:
1^st Lt. Jack Wright Jr., Pilot (killed)
[unknown, possibly 2^nd Lt.Jack D. Oyler who was wounded during the war, perhaps on this occasion], Copilot (survived)
SSgt. Frank J. Bottino Jr., Crew Chief (killed)
Sgt. Walter F. Cathell Jr., Radio Operator (killed)

The Commando departed Chandina, Bengal, India on a cargo mission to Yazagyo, Burma. The aircraft crashed 40 km west of Yazagyo for unknown reasons. Black smoke was seen at 1045 LT by Capt. Lester M. Brewer flying Commando 42-101235 of the same squadron on the same route. A detour revealed 44-77300 on the ground burning around the engines and leading inboard wings. The fuselage seemed slightly damaged, but no element had separated. At Yazagyo, Capt. Brewer made a report, unloaded his cargo and returned to the crash site. By that time, around 1205 LT, the entire aircraft had burnt except for the last 3 meters of the right wing. The undistinguishable remains of Wright, Bottino and Cathell were later recovered and buried in a common grave in the USA in 1949.

21 December 1945

Condemned for salvage.