Lockheed delivered Electra 1073, registration 37-66, to the United States Army Air Corps, USAAC, on December 31, 1936. Eight years later the aircraft was reregistered NC15556 and sold to Essair Inc., which became Pioneer Air Lines in 1946, flying routes in Texas. In 1947 the Electra was sold to the Dallas Aviation School, after serving for not even a full year the plane was sold to the Brazilian Air Force as 1796 who transferred it to VARIG, Brazil's leading carrier at the time. On August 11, 1947, the Electra was reregistered as PP-VBD; on November 29, 1950, the registration was cancelled and the aircraft was sold to Aeronorte and registered PP-NBC.
PP-NBC crashed on January 13, 1953, killing three crew and one passenger; we have been unable to uncover much detail about the crash other than that it appears the aircraft had been attempting an emergency landing when it crashed in Rosario, Maranho, Brazil.
Postcard illustration showing Electra 1073 while flying for VARIG as PP-VBD.
Comments