P-51D Serial 44-14050 was the Mustang assigned to Lt Samuel E. Hansard in the 55th Fighter Group/338th Fighter Squadron. It was most probably the plane he flew his last mission with on 26 August 1944 when, fooled by faulty navigational instruments, he and Squadron mates Samuel Gevorkian and John Kester, headed South instead of North on return from an escort mission. Thinking they would be short of fuel, Gevorkian and Kester force-landed their Mustangs on a beach they thought was on the Belgian coast opposite England. In fact, they landed near Arcachon on the shores of the Bay of Biscay while Sam Hansard flew on towards the sea, hoping to cross what he thought was the Channel and reach England. He and his Mustang crashed in the Bay of Biscay and were never recovered. There is no Missing Air Crew Report linked to this loss.