Date:	Sunday 1 March 1942
Time:	10:45
Type:	Curtiss RP-40G Warhawk
Owner/operator:	77th FSqn /20th FGp USAAF
Registration:	40-322
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	200 yds offshore Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina -   United States of America
Phase:	Unknown
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Myrtle Beach AAF, SC
Destination airport:

Narrative:
At 10:45 hrs on 1 March 1942, the Curtiss RP-40G 40-322 of 77th FS, 20th FG, dove into the Atlantic Ocean 200 yards offshore of its base airfield of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, killing the pilot, 2nd Lt Werner C. Von Berckefeldt. Investigators could not determine why the aircraft dove into the ocean.

Von Berckefeldt was born on 16 December 1919 in San Francisco, California, and was buried in Alameda on 11 March.

"Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945. Volume 1, January 1941-June 1943", by Anthony J. Mireles. ISBN 0-7864-2788-4
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Mar1942.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156291013
Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California, 9 March 1942 (available online at http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147971433/)/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_P-40_Warhawk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtle_Beach_Air_Force_Base
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33.679722&lon=-78.928333&z=15&m=b

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Mar-2018 11:54	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
02-Mar-2018 11:58	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Narrative]
13-Mar-2020 10:40	DB	Updated [Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator]