A SECOND World War aeroplane, crashed by a Rochford pilot in the Sahara Desert before he walked off to his death, has been found frozen in time 70 years later.

The preserved Kittyhawk P-40 is an aviation time capsule, which has remained untouched, since it came down on the sand in June 1942.

It is thought the pilot survived the crash and used his parachute for shelter, before making a futile attempt to reach civilisation by walking out of the desert.

The RAF airman was Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24, from Rochford.

Nobody has ever come across the fighter plane, until now, because it is in the middle of one of the harshest and most remote places on the planet.

The single-seat aircraft was discovered by chance by a Polish oil company worker exploring a remote region of the Western Desert, in Egypt.

All the cockpit’s instruments are intact and it still had guns and ammunition, before they were seized by the Egyptian army for safety reasons.

There are also signs of the makeshift camp the pilot made alongside the fuselage.

No human remains have been found, but it is thought the pilot’s body may lay anywhere within a 20-mile radius of the crash site.

The RAF Museum at Hendon, North London, has been made aware of the discovery and plans are under way to recover the aircraft and display it in the future.

A search will also be launched in the slim hope of finding the lost airman’s remains.

Historian Andy Saunders, from Hastings, East Sussex, said: “The aviation historical world is hugely excited about this.

“This plane has been lying in the same spot where it crashed 70 years ago. It hasn’t been hidden or buried. It has just sat there.

“It is a quite incredible time capsule – the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb.”

In 1942, Flt Sgt Copping, the son of a dentist, was a member of the RAF 260 Squadron, a fighter unit based in Egypt during the North Africa campaign. By June 1942, the Allies were retreating from German forces.

On June 28, Flt Sgt Copping and another airman were tasked with flying two damaged Kittyhawk P-40 aircraft from one British airbase in northern Egypt to another for repair.

During the short flight, Flt Sgt Copping lost his bearings, went off course and was never seen again.