Commando 44-77419

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

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77419

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32815

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1351

FATE: Written off

  November 1944 to September 1947

  44-77419 - USAAF (USA)

November 1944

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

  September 1947 to 1959

  44-77419 - USAF (USA)

18 September 1947

Transferred.

Unknown date

Assigned to 2259^th Air Force Reserve Training Center, based at Andrews AFB, MD.

21 January 1958

Assigned to the Arizona Aircraft Storage Squadron and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

2 February 1959

Sent for reclamation at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

[this Commando is erroneously quoted by JB as joining Civil Air Transport's reserve fleet on 19 May 1947]

  1959 to December 1960

  N9827Z - UNKNOWN (USA)

1959

Purchased.

  December 1960 to April 1961

  N9075R - L. B. SMITH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (USA)

8 December 1960

Purchased.

23 January 1961

Registered.

20 April 1961

Registration cancelled, export to Colombia.

  April 1961 to March 1967

  HK-758 - AEROCONDOR (COLOMBIA)

18 April 1961

Purchased. [quoted as 1966 by AB]

4 March 1967

Damaged beyond repair in Bogota, Colombia in a takeoff accident (0/2 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a cargo flight from Bogota El Dorado International, Colombia to Miami, FL with several enroute stops. After taking off from runway 12 in Bogota for the first leg to Barranquilla, Colombia, the aircraft failed to gain altitude. Approximately one minute after airborne, the crew carried out a forced landing at Hacienda Tucurinca. Both crewmembers escaped, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Below, left: an article about HK-758's accident in El Tiempo on the day after.
Photo credit: El Tiempo

Below, right: HK-758 on the belly at Hacienda Tucurinca.
Photo credit: Aviacol