Date:	Thursday 7 March 1940
Time:	16:30
Type:	Seversky P-35
Owner/operator:	39th PSqn /31st PGp USAAC
Registration:	36-424
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Ferry-Morse Seed Farm, Rochester, Michigan -   United States of America
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
In the afternoon of 7 March 1940, residents of Avon Township and the village of Rochester were looking up to watch two pursuit aircraft from Selfridge Field practicing dog-fighting maneuvers in the skies over town. The pilots of the two airplanes, Captain Alan Springer and 2nd Lieutenant Wilmer W. Munzenmayer, were assigned to the 39th Pursuit Squadron, 31st Pursuit Group, based at Selfridge, and they had been performing pursuit tactics in the area all afternoon when, at about 4:30 p.m., the P-35 36-424 piloted by 2nd Lt Munzenmayer went into a stall from 1,000 feet. Having lost control of his aircraft, Munzenmayer bailed out, but plummeted to the ground when his parachute failed to open. His P-35 exploded upon impact and was destroyed by fire. The accident occurred over the Ferry-Morse Seed Farm in the area of Rochester & Auburn roads, 10 miles from Selfridge Field and 4 miles northwest of Utica.

Burning wreckage was scattered for 500 feet over the entire seed farm area, the largest intact piece being the landing gear. A machine gun was hurled 400 feet from the wreckage.

Lt. Munzenmayer, age 23, was killed in the mishap and his body was removed to Selfridge Field by military ambulance. His remains were returned to his home in Kent, Ohio, for burial. He had been in active service eight months. He was graduated from the Army training school at Kelly Field in May, 1939, after completing a course at Kent State university, Ohio. He was a Kent State graduate and a brother of Dr.. Lester H. Munzenmayer of the Kent State university faculty. A popular figure on the campus while in Kent, the pilot had made rapid prqgress in training at Randolph and Selfridge fields and was scheduled for early promotion according to his friends. He had recently completed an examination for a commission in the regular army air service.

1.http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/1940sB4/1940.htm
2.http://rochesteravonhistory.blogspot.fr/2009/09/selfridge-airplane-crashes-in-avon.html
3.The News-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan, 8 March 1940 (available online at 4.http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/34659644/)/
5.The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio, 8 March 1940
6.http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/146732401
7.The Kent Stater, 8 March 1940 (available online at https://dks.library.kent.edu/cgi-bin.
8.https://www.rochesterhills.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1060
9.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_Michigan
X.https://www.mapquest.com/us/mi/rochester-hills/48309-4/4-w-auburn-rd-42.635068,-83.168724

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Nov-2017 13:32	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative]
13-Mar-2020 18:39	DB	Updated [Operator, Source, Operator]