As a participant in a military aid treaty with the United States, Chile sought B-26 Invader bombers to replace its aging B-25 Mitchells. According to official records, the first ten aircraft arrived in the country on November 18, 1954. However, the machines had actually been in Chile since September.
All of them arrived directly from U.S. Air Force storage at McClellan Air Force Base. Although the aircraft bore tail numbers belonging to the A-26B variant, all were B-26C models with a glazed nose (converted during construction). The Chilean Air Force (FACH) assigned them serial numbers from 812 to 821. The aircraft were assigned to the 8th Air Group, based at Cerro Moreno airfield, Antofagasta. This group also included eight remaining operational B-25Js.
By late 1956, most Chilean B-26s were in deplorable condition, with only two aircraft capable of flight. Therefore, an additional delivery of 14 B-26C aircraft was decided. These machines arrived in Chile between September 1956 and March 1957, completely replacing the obsolete B-25s.
In March 1958, another twelve aircraft were delivered, bringing the total number of Invaders supplied to Chile to 36 units. All aircraft were entirely painted in black.
Operational Challenges and Losses
Until June 1957, the B-26 fleet experienced only one irrecoverable loss. However, in June 1959, three machines were lost in crashes. A fifth B-26 crashed near Antofagasta in November 1961 due to structural failure of the main wing spars, a typical ailment of all postwar Invaders. On May 10, 1962, another Invader, number 838, crashed into the sea, killing three crew members. The cause of the accident remained unknown.
By 1962, crashes had reduced the number of Invaders to 22 B-26C and two B-26B. Around this time, the problem of wing metal fatigue became widespread, and several aircraft were sent to Albrook Air Base in Panama for repairs.
To mitigate the weakening of the FACH’s combat capability, two B-26Bs were delivered from the USA in 1963, and four more in April 1965. One of these four unfortunately crashed on April 30, 1965, in the Lima area, Peru, during transit.
In the 1960s, some Chilean B-26Cs were converted to a variant without a glazed nose, with six or eight machine guns installed in its place. These were designated B-26D. In July 1963, two B-26s were converted into light transport aircraft and transferred to the 10th Air Group, based in Santiago.
A Tragic Airshow Incident
On March 21, 1964, at Peldehue, during an airshow celebrating the FACH’s 34th anniversary, B-26 No.823 was scheduled to perform bombing demonstrations. However, a minute before bomb release, the aircraft’s left engine suddenly caught fire.
Pilot Lieutenant Victor Ramirez steered the burning machine away from a crowd of six thousand spectators, simultaneously ordering the crew to bail out. Unfortunately, mechanic Corporal Eduardo Farias became entangled in his parachute lines and died from asphyxiation, while the third crew member, Corporal Eduardo Pozo, could not exit the aircraft in time.
The pilot himself exited the aircraft at the last moment and landed safely, without serious injuries. The plane crashed several miles away on a local farm. Fragments from the burning engine of machine No.823 struck B-26 No.841, which was flying in the same formation, injuring its pilot Lieutenant Jami Parra and his mechanic Corporal Francisco Moreno.
In 1965, during heightened tensions with Argentina, B-26s were deployed to patrol the Chilean-Argentine border. In June 1966, aircraft No.812 crashed during a routine flight from Santiago to Antofagasta, killing pilot Lieutenant Jami Sampos and mechanic Corporal Julio Garcia.
Decline and Legacy
By 1968, 16 airworthy B-26s remained, and by the early 1970s, only ten machines. On September 11, 1973, during the state coup, aircraft of the 8th Air Group carried out several combat sorties, though there is no information that they used their armament.
Around this time, some B-26s were painted in desert camouflage, similar to that used in Chile on Vampire fighters: brown tones on top, light blue on the bottom.
In 1974, relations between Chile and the USA sharply deteriorated, leaving the Invaders without spare parts or maintenance. The aircraft became secondary and ceased to be considered combat-ready. They were mainly used for towing targets, which Hunter pilots from the 7th Air Group used for gunnery training.
Ultimately, the Invaders were replaced by the 7th Air Group’s Hunters, which were in turn later replaced by Northrop F-5 fighters. The last B-26s operated until 1979.
Most of the machines remaining at this point were scrapped; however, several examples were preserved in museums and on pedestals. One aircraft is installed at Cerro Moreno Air Base, another at El Bosque Air Base, and one more machine is exhibited at the Aeronautics Museum in Santiago.