1942: British Kittyhawk P-40

A British Royal Air Force (RAF) flight crashed in the burning heat of the Sahara desert in June 1942, and was not rediscovered until May 10 2012, when a Polish oil company found it in west Egypt. The plane was well-preserved; historians have described it as "an incredible time capsule" and "the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb".

However the pilot's body was never found. It is thought that he survived the crash but died trying to walk out of the desert.

A Hawk 87A-3 (Kittyhawk Mk IA) serial number AK987, in a USAAF 23d Fighter Group paint scheme, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. File Photo

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