ASN Aircraft accident Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando 44-77654 Orfordness
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Status:
Date:Sunday 4 March 1945
Time:20:05
Type:Silhouette image of generic C46 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando
Operator:United States Army Air Force - USAAF
Registration: 44-77654
MSN: 33050
First flight: 1945
Crew:Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
Location:1,6 km (1 mls) S off Orfordness (   United Kingdom)
Phase: Unknown (UNK)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:?
Destination airport:?
Narrative:
The C-46 departed Station 484 Folkingham, England at 10:30, towing a loaded Waco CG-13A glider, with B-54, Achiet, France as its destination.
Unfavorable weather was encountered en route but the airplane and glider made a successful landing at B-54. The airplane and crew departed B-54, Achiet, at 15:50 without the glider in tow, for the purpose of returning to Folkingham. At 19:25 hours, the pilot radioed "we are lost". The airplane circled Hawkinge, Lympne and Detling airfields southeast of London, England at approximately 10,000 feet in daylight. The pilot ultimately flew off course over a restricted area over the English Channel where he was fired upon by anti-aircraft guns at 20:05.

Classification:
Shot down from the ground
Loss of control

Sources:
» Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research (AAIR)
» Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum (forum.12oclockhigh.net)


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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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