Date & Time:
Dec 10, 1946 at 1310 LT
Type of aircraft:
Curtiss C-46 Commando
Operator:
Registration:
44-78604
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Tachikawa – Osaka – Fukuoka
MSN:
22427
YOM:
1945
Country:
Japan
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
19
Pax fatalities:
19
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
24
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from runway 32, while in initial climb, the aircraft banked left and right, then nosed down and crashed in a paddy field. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all 24 occupants, among them 3 civilians, were killed. The crew was completing a mail flight from Tachikawa AFB to Fukuoka with an intermediate stop in Osaka-Itami Airport. Weather conditions at the time of the accident were considered as marginal and it is believed that the left engine was not running at impact for reason that could not be determined with certainty.
