The tangled histories of DC-6s HK-1776 and HK-1776W


Another "propliner" mystery....
Once upon a time... there was a DC-6 ETP-10025 of the Fuerza Aerea Mexicana reported at Santa Lucia AB,Mexico in sep93.
In 1995 it was reported as written off after an emergency landing while registered as HK-1776W for a company called LANC Columbia (DC-6A); date of accident: 22jul95.
JP Airline Fleets (1995 edition) offered its former identity: N11565 and the company (LANC Colombia) stationed at Cartagena. Their fleet also comprised DC-3 HK-2497 and Aerospatiale SE210 Caravelle HK-3948X.
Now pay attention...
Propliner magazine no.72 (1997), in an article by Steve Kinder, stated registration as HK-1776W and reported it as stored at Villavicencio,Colombia.... Steve's article "South American Serenade" described HK-1776W as "anonymous" and mentioned LANC as "apparently closed down".
So it was repaired after its crash ? And the titles were removed ?
HK-1776 was photographed in take off (testflight) at Villavicencio,Colombia by Chris Mak in Feb99, after 18 months of storage; the photo was published in Propliner no.78 (1999, p.9) . But the colourscheme is clearly different from HK-1776 below: though in B&W it shows a colourscheme of metallic with a single cheatline. It is clearly registered HK-1776 (with LANC Columbia titles), not HK-1776W. The cheatline is different than shown on the photo below, too.
HK-1776 overshot the runway after (again?) a testflight on 04jul99 with engine troubles: 5 (crew) dead and the DC-6 damaged beyond economic repairs.
Was HK-1776W repaired after its crash in 1995, only to crash again in 1999 ?

Here is the following theory: HK-1776W and HK-1776 are (were) different aircraft; HK-1776W may have been the ex/Mexican reregistered ETP-10025, while HK-1776 of LANC was another DC-6.

HK-1776 Tampa Colombia
Douglas DC-6A HK-1776 of TAMPA Colombia at Miami (07Aug1978). Name below cockpitwindow is Luis H Coulson.
The colourscheme is similar to that of a photo published in "Sky Trucks" by Karl-Heinz Morawietz and Jörg Weier, page 54, taken at Bogota in 1980.

Questions:
DC-6A c/n 45499/1011 has been mentioned by various sources to be a candidate for either one of the above. But is it ETP-10025 / HK-1776W or HK-1776 ? And was HK-1776W a fake (officially not registered) registration, possibly applied for illegal or covert operations ?
Some sources seem to offer DC-6BF (c/n 45220) as a candidate for HK-1776, as N95BL (45220) vanished from sight in the early 1990s (last seen 1991); other sources claim N95BL was scrapped (at Miami) during those days. Or did N95BL get involved in illegal ops ? ETP-10025 had been impounded by the Mexicans (under which tailnumber, N95BL?) in the early 1990s and was put to good use by them as ETP-10025: was this DC-6 c/n 45220 and did this one end up as HK-1776W ???

A table provided byAero Transport Data Bank (ATDB) and additional info from Piston Engine Airliner Production List by TAHS, 2002 would have the following history for c/n 45499:

CF-CPBDC-6A45499Canadian AL Int'l / Lignes Aériennes Canadien Int'lDelivered from manufacturer 29Jul58to Northwest Orient AL N11565 1959
N11565 DC-6A 45499Northwest Orient AL (lease)ex CF-CPB Canadian AL Int'l / Lignes Aériennes Canadien Int'l (ret Sep60)to World Airways 01Jul61
N11565 DC-6A 45499 Continental Micronesialeased from World AirwaysLeased Sep 1968 & Returned
N11565 DC-6A 45499 Merpati Nusantara ALleased from Florida Aircraft Leasing (bt 1970)Leased & Returned
N11565 DC-6A45499Saber Airleased from Florida Acft Lsng 1970 Leased & Returned Apr71
N11565 DC-6A 45499 Florida Acft Lsng Saber Air (lease) to Air Adeah HH-20 (Dec.1971)
HH-20DC-6A45499 Air Adeahex N11565 Flo.Acft Lsngto Air Adeah HH-220 (rereg Jan.1972)
HH-220 DC-6A45499 Air Adeah named "Le Maron Inconnu" ex HH-20 Air Adeah to N11565 Florida Acft Lsng, ret Mar74
HK-1776DC-6A 45499TAMPA Colombia, bt 1975, named "Luis H.Coulson" ex N11565 Florida AL to Aeronorte (bt 1982)
HK-1776DC-6A45499Lineas Aéreas Suramericanas Colombia (date ? ntu ?)ex N11565 Saber Airto Transamazonica
HK-1776DC-6A45499Transamazonica Colombia (bt 1984)ex N11565 Saber Airto Private users in Colombia HK-1776W (rereg 1986)
HK-1776DC-6A45499LANC Colombia bt May 1994ex Transamazonicato Lineas Aéreas Nacionales
HK-1776DC-6A45499Lineas Aéreas Nacionales ex HK-1776 LANC Colombia crashed upon landing Villavicencio 04Jul99
HK-1776WDC-6A45499?Soexcarsab (date ?)ex HK-1776 Transamazonica Colombiato (date ?) Fuerza Aérea Mexicana ETP-10025
ETP-10025DC-6A45499?Fuerza Aérea Mexicanaex HK-1776W, Private users in ColombiaDestroyed 22-07-95 enroute Puerto Inride-Puerto Lopez

The last 2 could be a different airframe.

Image of HH-220
HK-1776 report on www.airdisaster.com
www.planecrashinfo.com
http://www.flugzeugbilder.de/show.php?id=129483
CIVIL AIRCRAFT REGISTER OF COLOMBIA: HK1776 DOUGLAS DC-6A (45499) 31/01/1975 -- SOCIEDAD EXPORTADORA DE CARNES DE LA SABANA DE BOGOTA LTDA. LINEAS AEREAS DEL NORTE DE COLOMBIA LTDA.

Comments and/or images will be welcomed!

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