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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Pesawat tempur era Perang Dunia ke-2 ditemui

KAHERAH 13 Mei - Sebuah pesawat tempur Britain era Perang Dunia Kedua ditemui semula selepas hampir 70 tahun tertimbus dalam pasir sejak ia terhempas di kawasan gurun dekat barat Mesir.

Pegawai Pertahanan dari Kedutaan Britain, Kapten Paul Collins berkata, pesawat jenis Kittyhawk P-40 itu ditemui dalam keadaan yang masih baik pada beberapa minggu lalu semasa satu penjelajahan untuk mencari kawasan perlombongan dilakukan.

Collins berkata, juruterbang pesawat itu yang dipercayai merupakan Sarjan Denis Copping, telah melakukan pendaratan cemas yang agak baik pada Jun 1942.

Kawasan barat Mesir merupakan tempat berlakunya beberapa pertempuran utama semasa Perang Dunia Kedua. - AFP
Shifting sands: The final resting place of the Kittyhawk P-40 has been discovered in the Sahara 70 years after it crashed there



Time capsule: Aside from the damage it sustained during impact, the aircraft appears to have been almost perfectly preserved in the sands of the Sahara
Chance discovery: The single-seater aircraft was found by a Polish oil company worker exploring a remote region of the western desert in Egypt

At the controls: The plane's cockpit, but there are fears over what will be left of it after locals began stripping parts and instruments for souvenirs and scrap

 
Unseen and untouched: Equipment and controls from the plane were found scattered around the craft at the crash site. The plane is still in very good condition


Intact: Most of the plane's cockpit instruments were untouched and it still had it guns and ammunition before they were seized by the Egyptian military for safety reasons


Second World War weaponry: The machine gun on the wing of the crashed plane. It appears the pilot got into trouble and brought it down in the middle of the desert


 

Bullet holes: The Kittyhawk appears to have been shot at (left), while its broken propeller lays nearby (right). Historians have described the find as the 'aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb'



Well-preserved: The Kittyhawk's magazine of bullets were also found in the wreckage. The radio and batteries were discovered out of the plane

 

Sign of the time: The Kittyhawk's factory stamp (left) and gun loading instruction panel (right). However, some locals see the aircraft as a piece of junk


Signs of survival: Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping's parachute was part of what is believed to be a makeshift camp alongside the fuselage



Remote: The crash site is about 200 miles from the nearest town. No human remains have been found but it is thought the pilot's decomposed body may lay anywhere in a 20 mile radius of the plane




In flight: Ft Sgt Copping and another airman were tasked with flying two damaged Kittyhawk P-40 planes (like this one) from one British airbase in northern Egypt to another for repair

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