Date:	Wednesday 16 February 1944
Time:	23:10
Type:	Martin PBM-3D Mariner
Owner/operator:	VP-202 USN
Registration:	48182
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 11
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Kwajalein Atoll -   Marshall Islands
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Kwajalein Atoll
Destination airport:	Kwajalein Atoll

Narrative:
On 7 February 1944 six PBM Mariners of VP-202 arrived in Kwajalein Atoll, reporting aboard the seaplane tender USS Casco. The squadron was assigned a search area constisting of six 700-mile sectors around the atoll, including Ponape Island on the south and Eniwetok on the north. Orders were to search for enemy task forces and to attack enemy submarines, merchant shipping and small craft. The bomb load carried on all searches was four Mark 17 325lb depth charges.

At 23:10 hrs on 16 February 1944 the PBM-3D Buno 48182 returning from a eleven hours routine sector search crashed and burned while attempting night landing in vicinity of the Casco, in Kwajalein Atoll. Of the eleven men aboard, 2 officers and 3 men went missing in the crash and 1 officer and 4 men sustained injuries, 2 serious. The burning plane sank in about 21 fathoms of water. Salvage operations other than rescue of survivors was not attempted. Exact cause of crash was not determined.

Name of the killed crew:
Lt(j.g.) Welburn Ennis Piercy
Ens Alexander King Wiggins
Aviation Radioman 1st Class William Shifler
Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Romers Rene Munn
Seaman 1st Class David William Smith

http://www.vpnavy.org/vp202_mishap.html
"The fighting flying boat: a history of the Martin PBM Mariner", by Richard Alden Hoffman. ISBN 1-59114-375-6
USS Casco War Diary, February 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/1/273589468)
VP-202 War Diary, February 1944 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/273578284)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwajalein_Atoll
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=9.011233&lon=167.579956&z=9

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Nov-2010 11:55	ASN archive	Added
22-Feb-2016 18:41	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
10-Apr-2024 10:31	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator]