The Curtiss C-46 Incident List provides an overview of incidents resulting in death or total loss of Curtiss C-46 aircraft .
From the first flight in 1940 to September 2019, the C-46 suffered 1,085 total losses. This corresponds to around a third (34.11 percent) of all 3,181 aircraft of this type produced. In 293 of them, 2566 people were killed. The vast majority of losses occurred in military operations (73%) and on cargo flights (17%); civil passenger flights accounted for only 7%. Extracts:
On 17 July 1946 a flew Curtiss C-46 D of the Ecuadorian ANDESA ( air vehicle registration HC SCA ) in the go-attempt after a failed approach to the airport Cuenca ( Ecuador ) 1.6 km past the airport into a hill. The machine from Guayaquil was flown by two hired US pilots. All 30 occupants, 3 crew members and 27 passengers, were killed.
On December 10, 1946, 32 US Marines were killed when a Curtiss R5C / C-46A Commando ( Bureau Number 39528 ) collided with the South Tahoma Glacier on Mount Rainier ( Washington ) at an altitude of about 3,200 meters . The machine was in flight from Marine Corps Air Station El Toro ( California ) to Seattle . This was the worst aviation accident in the United States at the time. The wreck was only discovered in July 1947.
On December 25, 1946, a C-46 Commando of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) had an accident while approaching Shanghai Longhua Airport in thick fog. Of the 36 occupants, 31 were killed (one crew member and three passengers). On that day, a total of three aircraft crashed in the Shanghai area with very poor visibility.
On July 12, 1949, a Standard Airlines C- 46E (N79978) was flown into a mountain while approaching Burbank Airport at the Santa Susana Pass, 15 kilometers north-northwest of Van Nuys . The pilots flew below the safety altitude . Of the 48 people on board, 35 were killed.
1950s
On June 5, 1950, one of the engines of a Westair Transport C-46F (N1248N) failed and the other engine overheated. An Atlantic ditching was carried out about 480 kilometers off the coast of Melbourne, Florida , USA . Of the 65 inmates, 37 survived, but 28 drowned.
On January 4, 1951, the captain of an overloaded C-46D-15-CU of the Monarch Air Service (N79982) tried to take off from Chicago Midway Airport ( Illinois ) with too low a power setting of the engines. There was a stall and loss of control. During the crash landing just outside the airport, fire broke out. All 48 occupants survived (3 crew members and 45 passengers).
On September 29, 1951, C-46D-15-CU was the Bolivian Frigorífico Cooperativo Los Andes (CB-43) on the La Paz airport so badly damaged that repair was impossible. There were no fatalities.
On December 16, 1951, a Miami Airline C-46F (N1678M) crashed into the Elizabeth River shortly after taking off from Newark due to an engine failure . All 56 occupants died (see Miami Airline accident (1951) ) .
On February 9, 1953, an Egyptian Air Force C-46D (EAF 1001) had an accident on the way from El Arish to Cairo-Almaza Airport in the desert around 60 kilometers east of Cairo. 30 of the 35 inmates were killed.
On September 9, 1956, the crew of a C-46A-45-CU from Jordan International Airlines (JY-ABV) could not gain any height after taking off from Amman-Marka . The pilots then initiated a traffic pattern . On its final approach , the aircraft hit a hill with the landing gear still retracted, slipped over the top and came to rest on the other side of the slope. The plane then caught fire. There were four crew members and 53 passengers on board, one of whom was killed.
On April 7, 1957, a C-46A of the Brazilian VARIG (PP-VCF) that had just started in Bagé for Porto Alegre had an accident due to a fire in the landing gear shaft. Its intensity led to the breaking off of the left wing, whereupon the aircraft crashed onto the airport premises. The five-man crew and the 35 passengers were killed.
On October 3, 1957, a fire broke out on board a Lebanese International Airways (OD-ACK) C-46A after taking off from Beirut Airport . When trying to return, control of the controls was lost and the machine crashed into the sea about 18 kilometers from the coast. All 4 crew members and 23 passengers on the planned flight to Kuwait were killed.
On June 19, 1958, a Luxembourg Airlines (LX-LAA) C-46F crashed on a training flight at Stuttgart Airport . On landing, the left main landing gear broke, the aircraft came off the runway and caught fire. There were no fatalities, but the machine was destroyed.
On May 8, 1959, a Curtiss C-46 belonging to Transportes Aéreos Peruanos (TAPSA) (OB-QAM) crashed into a field immediately after taking off from Cusco Airport . The five people on board survived; the plane had to be written off.
1960s
On January 29, 1960, problems with the right engine developed during flight on a C-46 Super C operated by Pacific Western Airlines (CF-PWD) . It was turned off and the pilots returned to the starting airport in Port Hardy ( British Columbia back). On landing, the machine rolled over the end of the runway into the swampy terrain with tree stumps. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. All 51 occupants, 3 crew members and 48 passengers survived the accident.
On April 19, 1960, a Lloyd Aéreo Colombiano (HK-390) C-46D crashed on its final approach to Bogotá airport . The machine was on the flight from Medellin-Olaya Herrera . The cause was a loss of speed with the following stall . Of the 51 occupants, 37 were killed, 6 crew members and 31 passengers.
On June 8, 1962, a C-46 / CW-20 of Transair Sweden (SE-CFB) had to be written off as a total loss after a landing accident in Albertville (Congo). People were not harmed. The front fuselage section with cockpit was dismantled and used to repair the sister aircraft SE-CFC.
On January 13, 1964, a C-46 Super C of Transair Sweden (SE-CFF) was irreparably damaged in a takeoff accident in Thysville .
On June 20, 1964, a C-46D of the Taiwanese Civil Air Transport (B-908) crashed shortly after take-off from Taichung Airport due to a loss of control after an engine failure. All 57 occupants, 5 crew members and 52 passengers, were killed. It was the accident with the most fatalities in a C-46 in civil service (see also Civil Air Transport Flight 106 ) .
On March 6, 1966, a C-46A of Transair Sweden (SE-CFG) hit a bump in Bunia just before touchdown . The machine continued the flight to Stanleyville , but was withdrawn there due to the amount of damage.
1970s
On June 5, 1972, an Air America C-46A ("EM-2") flew from Hue during a radar-based approach to Pleiku Airport in a hill after radio contact was lost. Mostly American and South Vietnamese soldiers were on board. All 32 occupants, 3 crew members and 29 passengers, were killed.
On December 20, 2000 a Curtiss C-46A of Everts Air (N1419Z) had delivered around 7800 liters of fuel to the Nondalton airstrip ( Alaska ). On the return flight to Kenai Airport , the machine was flown into a mountain at an altitude of 800 meters in bad weather. The two pilots were killed.
2010-2019
On September 25, 2015, a Buffalo Airways (C-GTXW) C-46A suffered an engine failure on a scheduled flight from Yellowknife Airport to Norman Wells . However, the propeller could not be brought into the sail position , so that an emergency landing was necessary due to the high air resistance. In a belly landing with a late touchdown at Déline airfield, the aircraft slid 200 meters beyond the end of the runway and was irreparably damaged. The four-man crew was unharmed.
