Commando 44-77756

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77756

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 33152

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1688

FATE: Written off

  January 1945 to May 1947

  44-77756 - USAAF (USA)

24 January 1945

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

Probably assigned to the 13^th Air Force, 403^rd Troop Carrier Group operating in the Southwest Pacific theater.

22 February 1945

Departed the USA for Brisbane Eagle Farm, Queensland, Australia.

Unknown date

Assigned to Nichols Field, Philippines.

  May 1947 to January 1950

  XT-832 - CNRRA AIR TRANSPORT (CHINESE NATIONAL RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION) (CHINA)

19 May 1947

Transferred to CNRRA Air Transport.

Initially assigned to the reserve fleet and stored in Tien Ho, Guangdong, China.

September 1948

Rebuilt and put into service to replace crashed XT-822 (II).

Data plate missing, and probably identified by remaining serial on the tail, however sometimes mistaken for 44-77482.

30 November 1948

Took part in the Shanghai - Hsuchow airlift.

  January 1950 to March 1950

  N8418C - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

5 January 1950

Transferred to CAT.

  March 1950 to early 1956

  B-872 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

March 1950

Reregistered. [sometimes also listed as XT-872]

November 1953

Fitted with long-range tanks.

Took part in Operation Repat, carrying 2500 Chinese Nationalist guerillas back from Lampang, Thailand to Taipeh, Taiwan.

Right: a superb shot of B-872 in Daegu, South Korea in November 1952.
Photo credit: Bob Garrard / AirHistory.net

  Early 1956 to March 1956

  N9885F - ASIATIC AERONAUTICAL COMPANY LTD. (TAIWAN)

Early 1956

Purchased for 1 US$. [date of reregistration TBC - the F suffix stands for "foreign"]

  March 1956 to January 1957

  N9885F - ROBERT HEWITT ASSOCIATES (USA)

28 March 1956

Purchased.

Left: a bare metal N9885F sitting at an unknown airport, probably before its Delta days.
Photo credit: Life Magazine / Batman_60 / Flickr

  January 1957 to January 1965

  N9885F - DELTA AIR LINES (USA)

4 January 1957

Purchased.

1 February 1957

Registered.

Converted to C-46R. [date of conversion TBC, possibly done at Officine Aeronavali]

25 October 1957

Delivered.

Operated as a freighter, marked "105" on the tail.

24 November 1964

Damaged beyond repair in Baton Rouge, LA in a landing accident (0/2 fatalities). NTSB Report

The Commando was operating a commercial cargo flight between Atlanta, GA and New Orleans, LA with a freight load and two pilots on board. The aircraft could not land in New Orleans due to fog, and a diversion was initiated to the alternate Baton Rouge. Low ceilings and rain prevailed at the alternate. The First Officer was the pilot flying and made an unstabilized approach, too fast and too high. Touchdown on runway 13 occured 800 meters after the threshold, and the Captain took over controls. However, as the runway was wet, the airplane started hydroplanning and could not be stopped before the end of the runway. The Captain attempted a ground loop, but instead the Commando only veered 20° and slid off the runway into a ditch. The crew escaped uninjured but the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

The probable cause of the accident was determined to be the Captain's decision not to take over controls earlier and conduct a go-around.

Total airframe time: 19,842 hours.

Right: N9885F, in Delta's "Super D-46" color scheme.
Photo credit: unknown

  January 1965 to December 1971

  N9885F - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

15 January 1965

Wreckage purchased.

3 March 1965

Registered.

Probably never flown, and parted out.

2 December 1971

Registration cancelled.