GEORG v. RAUCH COLLECTION
No. 12841. Douglas DC-3A-456 C-47A (LV-ACH c/n 13027) ZONDA
Source unknown

Douglas DC-3A-456 C-47A

08/31/2015. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "One of 5,253 C-47As ordered, this aircraft was built by Douglas at Oklahoma City in 1944 as a DC-3A-456 C-47A-20-DK Skytrain for the USAAF under serial 42-93148 and immediately transferred to the RAF as a Dakota Mk.III and serialed KG544. It was returned to the USAAF on August 29, 1946. On January 14, 1947, the aircraft was registered as LV-ACH to Zonas Oeste y Norte de Aerolíneas Argentinas (ZONDA, northwest Argentinean airlines).

On May 14, 1949, ZONDA amalgamated with Aeroposta Argentina, ALFA (Aviación del Litoral Fluvial Argentino) and FAMA (Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina) into the state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas. The four amalgamating companies ceased independent operations on December 31, 1949 and Aerolíneas Argentinas started operations on its own on December 7, 1950. LV-ACH was reregistered to Aerolíneas Argentinas and named "Puntano" on November 22, 1950.

Five weeks later, the aircraft was lost in the evening of December 30, when it crashed minutes after take off from Aeroparque Camet, Mar del Plata. An eyewitness reported the aircraft lost altitude, searched for a place to land, and just before impact the aircraft broke up. Of the eighteen occupants of the aircraft only one survived. The registration was cancelled in June 1951."


Created August 31, 2015