Date:	Sunday 8 August 1943
Time:	19:58
Type:	Curtiss C-46A-10-CU Commando
Owner/operator:	United States Army Air Force - USAAF
Registration:	41-12343
MSN:	26470
Year of manufacture:	1943
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney R-2800-51
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Homestead AAF, FL (HST) -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Homestead AAF, FL (HST/KHST)
Destination airport:	Homestead AAF, FL (HST/KHST)

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.

Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Vol. 2: July 1943-July 1944 / Anthony J. Mireles

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