Date & Time:
May 25, 1971 at 0426 LT
Type of aircraft:
Curtiss C-46 Commando
Operator:
Registration:
CC-CAZ
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Cargo
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Santiago - Arica
MSN:
50
YOM:
1944
Country:
Chile
Region:
South America
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from runway 03 at Santiago-Los Cerrillos Airport, while in initial climb, the pilot declared an emergency after the right engine failed. He elected to return for an emergency landing when the airplane stalled and crashed in a field located 2 km from the airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all four occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
Loss of control during initial climb due to the failure of the right engine for reasons that investigations could not accurately determine due to the destruction of the engines. Due to lack of evidences, it was not possible to correlate the right engine failure and a possible overloading of the aircraft with the operation (normaL or not) of the left engine.
