Accident description
Last updated: 24 June 2018
| Status: | |
| Date: | Friday 26 January 1945 |
| Time: | 20:15 |
| Type: |  Curtiss C-46A-35-CU Commando |
| Operator: | United States Army Air Force - USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-3669 |
| C/n / msn: | 26802 |
| First flight: | 1944 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney R-2800-51 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
| Location: | 4 km (2.5 mls) S of Bell Center, OH ( United States of America)
|
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Buffalo Airport, NY, United States of America |
| Dayton-Wright Patterson AAF, OH (FFO/KFFO), United States of America |
The C-46 transport plane operated on a military cargo flight from Buffalo, NY to Patterson Field, OH carrying 8000 pounds of cargo. A fire started in the area of the fuel cross-feed valve, APU and gasoline heater. The floor structure weakened due to the intense fire and collapsed. The airplane descended on fire and crashed into trees.
Classification:
Loss of control
Sources:
» Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research (AAIR)» Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945, Vol. 3: August 1944-December 1945 / Anthony J. Mireles
Photos
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.
