ASN Aircraft accident Curtiss C-46A-10-CU Commando 41-12343 Homestead AAF, FL (HST)
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Status:
Date:Sunday 8 August 1943
Time:19:58
Type:Silhouette image of generic C46 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
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
Destination airport:Homestead AAF, FL (HST/KHST), United States of America
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.

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. Mireles


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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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