Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina

Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina (FAMA)
A FAMA Convair CV-240 , 1948
IATA code :	(without)
ICAO code :	(without)
Call sign :	(unknown)
Founding:	1946
Operation stopped:	1949
Merged with:	Aerolíneas Argentinas
Seat:	Buenos Aires
Home airport :	Buenos Aires
Company form:	Corporation
Fleet size:	26th
Aims:	national, international
Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina (FAMA) merged with Aerolíneas Argentinas in 1949 . The information in italics relates to the last status before the takeover.

Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina (FAMA) was an Argentine airline founded in 1946 and incorporated into the newly established state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas on May 3, 1949 ; its own flight operations ended on December 31, 1948.

history

FAMA was founded on February 8, 1946 as a stock corporation, with a third of the capital provided by the state. The Argentine government concluded a cooperation agreement with the Chilean LAN (Línea Aérea Nacional) in March 1946 and with British South American Airways in May .

On June 4, 1946, flight operations to Santiago de Chile began with a Douglas DC-4 . From mid-1946 a rapidly growing fleet was built up, consisting of the brand-new Avro York types , 5 of which were delivered between mid-1946 and December 12, 1946, and three Bristol 170 freighters , which were operated from January 17 to December 13 , 1946 June 1947 arrived. Between May 15 and September 25, 1947, six Vickers Vikings were added to the fleet, the latter two types for regional services to neighboring countries.

These new aircraft were supplemented by used machines, namely 5 Douglas DC-3s and 3 converted Avro Lancastrian Mk.4 bombers .

Although the DC-4s were initially the flagships of the fleet, their flight plan was also supported on some routes by Lancastrians and Avro Yorks. The Vikings flew to Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and from 1947 also to Santiago.

From 1948, the DC-4s , which were not equipped with a pressurized cabin , were gradually replaced by six pressurized Douglas DC-6s ; the Lancastrians were surrendered to the Argentine Air Force . The first of the brand new DC-6s was delivered on May 18, 1948, the last on September 30 of the same year.

In mid-1949, the three Bristol 170 Freighters were also transferred to the Argentine Air Force , as were the five remaining Vickers Vikings.

The illustrated Convair CV-240 LV-ADP was also operated at times, which was initially handed over to the ZONDA as a new aircraft on February 27, 1948 , but was not transferred.

On May 3, 1949, FAMA was officially merged with three other airlines to form the state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas . The independent operation ended on December 31, 1949

Destinations

The route to Santiago de Chile was followed by the opening of the flight route to Paris and London on September 17, 1946, also with Douglas DC-4. Already on October 11, 1946, Madrid followed as a destination. The flight service to New York began on October 21, 1946, with a total of five stopovers in Rio de Janeiro, Natal, Belem, Trinidad and Havana. On July 9, 1947, Rome was added to the route network.

After the long-haul routes were almost all taken over by Douglas DC-6, the DC-4 was used from 1949 for feeder flights from the newly established European hub Lisbon to Rome and Madrid as well as for regional services to Brazil and Chile.

fleet

Fleet at the end of operations

When it merged to form Aerolíneas Argentinas, FAMA handed over the following aircraft:

• 03 Avro York
• 01 Convair CV-240
• 05 Douglas DC-3
• 11 Douglas DC-4
• 06 Douglas DC-6

Previously deployed aircraft

Before the merger, FAMA also operated the following types of aircraft:

• 3 Avro Lancastrian
• 3 Bristol 170
• 6 Vickers Viking

Incidents

From 1945 until the end of operations on December 31, 1949, FAMA suffered 7 total aircraft losses. In 4 of them 35 people were killed. Examples:

• On December 23, 1946, an Avro York of Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina (FAMA) ( aircraft registration LV-XIG ) coming from Natal (Brazil) collided with the 990 while approaching Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil Meter high mountain Pico de Papagaio . All 21 inmates were killed.

• On June 10, 1947, an Avro Lancastrian C.4 of the FAMA (LV-ACS) hit a mast on landing at Natal-Parnamirim Airport ( Brazil ) and caught fire. Of the 18 occupants, 6 were killed, 4 crew members and 2 passengers.

• On July 24, 1947, a FAMA Avro York I (LV-XIH) collided with a truck while landing at Buenos Aires-Moron ( Argentina ) and exploded. Three people were killed, two of the six crew members and a truck driver.

• On May 14, 1948, a Vickers Viking 1B operated by FAMA (LV-AFL) had engine problems on a test flight. The pilots decided to make an emergency landing at Junin Airport ( Argentina ), 210 kilometers west of the destination airport Buenos Aires-Jorge Newbery . In poor visibility, however, there was a crash landing on farmland, which led to the collapse of the landing gear and the outbreak of fire. All 5 crew members survived the crash landing unharmed.

• On September 27, 1949, a FAMA (LV-ABI) Douglas DC-4 / C-54A caught fire during flight. During the emergency landing near Castilla ( Province of Buenos Aires , Argentina) 5 of the 27 occupants were killed, 3 crew members and 2 passengers. The plane was destroyed

See also

• List of former airlines

literature

• REG Davies: Airlines of Latin America since 1919. Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1997, ISBN 0-85177-889-5 .
• Tony Eastwood, John Roach: Piston Engine Airliner Production List . The Aviation Hobby Shop, West Drayton, 1996, ISBN 0 907 178 61 8 .
• Derek A. King: The Bristol 170 . Air-Britain (Historians), Staplefield, 2011, ISBN 978 0 85 130 405 2 .

Web links

Commons : Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Air Britain Photographs: FAMA's Avro York, Woodford 1946

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tony Eastwood, John Roach: Piston Engine Airliner Production List . The Aviation Hobby Shop, West Drayton, 1996, ISBN 0 907 178 61 8 , p. 31.
2. ^ Eastwood, Roach 1996, pp. 44-45.
3. ^ Eastwood, Roach 1996, p. 485.
4. ^ REG Davies: Airlines of Latin America since 1919. Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1997, ISBN 0-85177-889-5 , p. 562.
5. ↑ Davies 1997, p. 600.
6. ^ Tony Eastwood, John Roach: Piston Engine Airliner Production List . The Aviation Hobby Shop, West Drayton, 1996, ISBN 0 907 178 61 8 , pp. 328-331.
7. ^ Derek A. King: The Bristol 170 . Air-Britain (Historians), Staplefield, 2011, ISBN 978 0 85130 405 2 , p. 135.
8. ↑ Davies 1997, p. 588.
9. ^ Tony Eastwood, John Roach: Piston Engine Airliner Production List . The Aviation Hobby Shop, West Drayton, 1996, ISBN 0 907 178 61 8 , p. 74.
10. ↑ Davies 1997, p. 563.
11. ↑ Davies 1997, p. 565.
12. ↑ Davies 1997, pp. 599-603.
13. ↑ Davies 1997, p. 600.
14. ↑ Accident statistics Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina - FAMA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 16, 2020.
15. ^ Accident report Avro York LV-XIG , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 29, 2015.
16. ^ Accident report Avro Lancastrian LV-ACS , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 17, 2020.
17. ^ Accident report Avro York LV-XIH , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 27, 2019.
18. ^ Accident report Viking 1B LV-AFL , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 17, 2020.
19. ^ Accident report Douglas DC-4 LV-ABI , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 17, 2020.