The aircraft was engaged on a scheduled cargo flight from New York to Miami, Florida, with scheduled stops at Wilmington, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida. Flying on a VFR flight plan the aircraft landed at Wilmington at 18:57 and departed again at 19:36, estimating Jacksonville at 21:56. At approximately 20:40, at a point near Hollywood, South Carolina, engines were heard by witnesses and lights were seen descending on an erratic path as the aircraft fell in several pieces to the ground. The aircraft was manufactured for and operated by the U.S. Air Force as a C-46A, and was decommissioned and stored in the Egyptian desert. Subsequently an Italian firm bought the aircraft, and the Curtiss-Wright company authorised this firm to convert C.46A’s to C-46E’s, and provided them with an incomplete set of drawings relative to this conversion, which is identical to that for the C-46F insofar as the tail surfaces arc concerned. Where specified material was not available the nearest available material was used. In every case the strength of the material in the new part exceeded the strength of the material specified. Many of the newly installed parts were heavier than the original parts. A comparison of the rudder elevators, their tabs and their control mechanisms on the accident aircraft with applicable Curtiss-Wright drawings disclosed many nonconformities. PROBABLE CAUSE: “An in-flight structural failure resulting from a violent pitch-down induced by the erratic action of nonconforming elevator tab controls.”