The Curtiss Commando Page
The Curtiss Commando Page

Commando 44-77558

Aircraft Identification

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77558

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32954

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1490

FATE: Written off

Operational Record

  December 1944 to February 1946

  44-77558- USAAF (USA)


11 December 1944

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

Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command based at Baer Field, IN.

Remained within the continental USA.

  February 1946 to 1948

  44-77558 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)


7 February 1946

Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.

  1948 to September 1948

  NC51786 - UNITED SERVICES FOR AIR INC. (USA)


1948

Purchased from RFC.

  September 1948 to December 1949

  XT-162CNAC (CHINA NATIONAL AVIATION CORPORATION) (CHINA)


16 September 1948

Purchased.

13 November 1949

Registration certificate suspended by the Nationalist government.

  December 1949

  XT-162 - CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT & WHITING WILLAUER (USA)


12 December 1949

Purchased by Claire Chennault & Whiting Willauer, managers of CAT – while the aircraft was at an unknown location. This was part of an attempt supported by the US State Department to regain ownership of several CNAC & CATC aircraft.

  December 1949 to January 1953

  N8382C - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)


19 December 1949

Transferred to CAT and registered.

27 January 1953

Registration cancelled.

  January 1953 to March 1956

  N1380N - L. B. SMITH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (USA)


January 1953

Reregistered.

Converted with underwing Turbomeca Palas jet engines.

  March 1956 to April 1960

  HK-390 - LLOYD AEREO COLOMBIANO (COLOMBIA)


17 March 1956

Purchased and christened "Santa Ines".

Later sold to Intereses Aereo Colombiano and leased back to Lloyd Aereo Colombiano.

19 April 1960

Damaged beyond repair at Bogota El Dorado, Colombia in a landing accident (37/51 fatalities).

Crew:
Jaime Velilla, Pilot (survived)
Enrique Gomez, Copilot (killed)
Gilberto Laverde, Flight Engineer (killed)
Diogenes Rovira, Jumpseater (killed)
Blanca Duarte, Flight Attendant (killed)
Gerdi Wagener, Flight Attendant (killed)
Margarita Zuluaga, Flight Attendant (killed)

The Commando was operating a scheduled passenger flight between Miami, FL and Bogota El Dorado, Colombia with intermediate stops in Barranquilla and Medellin. On the last leg of that flight, it carried 7 crew members and 44 passengers. Around 1900 LT, the aircraft started a night visual approach into Bogota. After extending downwind due to traffic, it turned final for runway 12 and extended the flaps and gear. The approach was flown too low and the Commando hit two trees, then crashed into the Bogota River bank, ending up in a pond 430 meters short of the runway threshold. Rescue efforts were complicated by the fact that firefighters did not have appropriate rescue equipment, and inflatable dinghies punctured when they came in contact with the wreckage. 13 passengers and the Captain could be saved, with most of the fatalities having drowned in the swampy water.

The probable cause of the accident was attributed to the poor flying technique of the Captain, along with his lack of experience - he had mostly copilot time and only 2 hours of night experience on type. Contributing factors were the absence of approach lights and the lack of crew supervision by the airline. The inadequacy of firefighting and rescue service at the country's capital airport was also pointed out.

This accident, which followed the one of HK-870 two days earlier at the same airport, led to the grounding and closure of the airline.

 

Below: HK-390 making a flyby with the right prop feathered.
Photo credit: unknown

Bottom: a depiction of the accident path and the rescue efforts.
Photo credit: Jaime Escobar / Aviacol.net

Last edited: 03/03/2024