1949 Strato-Freight Curtiss C-46A crash
Curtiss Wright C-46D · Maintenance error using sparkplugs not approved for the engine type
From San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida, US
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 53 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 28
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Curtiss Wright C-46D
- Aircraft type
- Curtiss Wright C-46
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- NC92857
- Operator
- Strato-Freight
- Onboard fatalities
- 53
- Route
- From San Juan, Puerto RicoTo Miami, Florida, US
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On June 7, 1949, a Strato-Freight Curtiss Wright C-46D, registered in the United States as NC92857, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 10 km (6.4 mi) west of San Juan-Isla Grande Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico while en route to Miami, Florida. Of the 81 passengers and crew on board, 53 were killed.
Crash
On June 4, 1949 (three days prior to the accident), the Strato Freight C-46 arrived in San Juan from Newark, New Jersey. Regular maintenance included a new flap follow-up cable, along with a check of both engines. Due to misfiring of the right engine, 13 new spark plugs were also installed.
On June 7, the aircraft was in service for a flight to Miami. The plane taxied to the runway at 00:10, and was airborne at 00:21. Approximately one minute thereafter, the right engine began losing power. The aircrew declared an emergency; the plane subsequently crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 200 m (656 ft) off the coastline. The aircraft remained afloat for six minutes, during which time 28 of the 81 passengers and crew were able to evacuate. According to various sources, 53 or 54 passengers perished. This was, at the time, the largest death toll ever due to a plane crash.
Investigation and cause
Probable cause
The investigation concluded "the loss of power of the right engine before the aircraft attained the optimum single engine climb speed, together with the overloaded condition of the aircraft, resulted in it losing altitude and settling into the sea."
Text from the Wikipedia article “1949 Strato-Freight Curtiss C-46A crash” (revision 1339306410, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1949 Strato-Freight Curtiss C-46A crash
- Revision
- 1339306410 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16971167
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1949 Strato-Freight Curtiss C-46A crash" (page 39637423, revision 1339306410)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.