Robert Rockwell of Napoli and Ron Donhauser of Springville Examine Wreckage from Flight 44-2
The Lucile M. Wright Air Museum has acquired more than 150 artifacts from Continental Charters Flight 44-2, which crashed in the Cattaraugus County Town of Napoli on December 29, 1951, and claimed 26 lives.
The crash wreckage items will be used in conjunction with an exhibit to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the disaster in 2026.
The artifacts were collected from the debris field after the official salvage operation concluded and were held privately until now. The museum received the crash remnants from Robert Rockwell, who lives near the crash site, and Ron Donhauser, a collector from Springville, NY. The donations were coordinated by Tim Lake, author of Hang on and Fly, the definitive book on the tragedy and heroism of Flight 44-2.
The artifacts range in size from small cranks, aluminum shards, and the airplane’s original equipment to a significant portion of one of the wings. Additionally, Lake is donating a blade from one of the plane’s propellers, which he purchased at an Erie County auction earlier this year. The propeller blade includes an inspection sticker that is an exact match for those seen in vintage 1951 photographs of the wreckage.
Continental Charters was a non-scheduled airline service operating in a regulatory gray area in the post-World War II era. The plane used for Flight 44-2 was a recently converted C-46 military aircraft reconfigured for commercial use. The flight was hours late when it completed the first leg of its journey from Miami to Pittsburgh. In an attempt to get back lost time, the pilots made a disastrous decision to fly to Buffalo on a visual flight plan, despite bitter winter weather that required an instrument flight plan.
The aircraft slammed into Bucktooth Ridge in Napoli at approximately 10:25 PM and was ripped apart. Most of the 26 fatalities occurred immediately upon impact. Fourteen survivors braved two nights in life-threatening weather before one of the largest rescue operations ever in Western New York brought them to safety. It remains the longest stranding of a large group of airline crash survivors in the history of commercial aviation in North America.
The Wright Air Museum’s exhibit on Flight 44-2 is expected to be completed in late 2026.
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