CAIRO — A remarkably well-preserved fighter plane that crashed in the Sahara Desert during World War II has been found 70 years later, shedding new light on the pilot’s struggle to survive.

The American-made Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk was discovered by a Polish oil worker, Jakub Perka, who was exploring the desert in Egypt, The Telegraph newspaper reported. It was about 200 miles from the nearest town.

It is believed that the pilot, Dennis Copping, 24, ran into trouble while flying in 1942 but still managed to land the plane on the sands, the paper said.

Military historian Andy Saunders said that the British flight sergeant “must have survived the crash” because a photograph of the plane showed a parachute had been put up on the side of the plane, apparently as a form of shelter, The Telegraph reported.

“The radio and batteries were out of the plane, and it looks like he tried to get it working. If he died at the side of the plane, his remains would have been found,” Saunders added. He said the discovery was “the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun’s tomb.” — SG