c/n 198

55-3326

x

•  55-3326 United States Army. Delivered 31-Jan-1957. Designated as U-1A.

After being fitted with suitable radio pack for Europe at Red Bird Field, Dallas, TX, the aircraft was flown to Mobile, AL from where it was delivered by ship to Bremerhaven, Germany where they were re assembled and flown to Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Germany.

May-1957. Collected by crew and flown to 202nd Aviation Company, Boscomantico AAF, Verona, Italy, part of Southern European Task Force, SETAF.

Accident: Mountain strip in Italian Alps, Brunico NE of Bolzano. 25-Jul-1957. During a field exercise. Crashed on take-off with a full complement of passengers, but luckily none were injured.

• Written off •

Otter 198 was delivered to the United States Army on 31st January 1957 with serial 55-3326 (tail number 53326). It was one of five Army Otters (the others were 53323, 53324, 53325 and 53327) destined for service with the 202nd Aviation Company, Boscomantico AAF, Verona, Italy. These five Otters were delivered from Downsview to Red Bird Field, Dallas, Texas, where they were fitted with radios suitable for use in Europe. They were then flown to Mobile, Alabama and delivered by ship to Bremerhaven, Germany where they were re-assembled and flown to the depot at Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Germany. They were then collected from there by pilots of the 202nd Aviation Company and flown to their new base at Boscomantico AAF in May 1957. 53326 was deleted from the Army inventory in November 1957 as the result of a crash. It was lost on take-off from a short mountain strip in the Italian Alps northeast of Bolzano during a field exercise. It took off with a full complement of passengers, but luckily none were injured. The Otter was however destroyed.

Full history up to 2005 courtesy of Karl E Hayes © from DHC-3 Otter - A History (CD-ROM 2005)