Narrative:
About 19:50, the C-46 took off from Homestead AAF on a local test flight. Several minutes after takeoff the no. 1 engine caught fire. One of the passengers bailed out as the pilot attempted to return to the airport.
An explosion occurred and the airplane crashed.
It appeared that a leaking or broken fuel line in or adjacent to the wheel well permitted the accumulation of gasoline and fumes within the left wheel well, left center section and left wing. The fumes were ignited by the engine exhaust.
Loss of control
| Status: | |
| Date: | Sunday 8 August 1943 |
| Time: | 19:58 |
| Type: |  Curtiss C-46A-10-CU Commando |
| Operator: | United States Army Air Force - USAAF |
| Registration: | 41-12343 |
| MSN: | 26470 |
| First flight: | 1943 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney R-2800-51 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Homestead AAF, FL (HST) ( United States of America)
|
| Crash site elevation: | 2 m (7 feet) amsl |
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Homestead AAF, FL (HST/KHST), United States of America |
| Homestead AAF, FL (HST/KHST), United States of America |
About 19:50, the C-46 took off from Homestead AAF on a local test flight. Several minutes after takeoff the no. 1 engine caught fire. One of the passengers bailed out as the pilot attempted to return to the airport.
An explosion occurred and the airplane crashed.
It appeared that a leaking or broken fuel line in or adjacent to the wheel well permitted the accumulation of gasoline and fumes within the left wheel well, left center section and left wing. The fumes were ignited by the engine exhaust.
Classification:
Inflight fire Loss of control
Sources:
» Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Vol. 2: July 1943-July 1944 / Anthony J. MirelesPhotos
Map
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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