U-2 Crisis of 1960 The U-2 Crisis of 1960 occurred when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The incident worsened East-West relations during the Cold War and was a great embarrassment for the United States. On May 1, 1960 (fifteen days before the scheduled opening of an East-West summit conference in Paris), a U.S. spy plane of the type Lockheed U-2 left Peshawar, Pakistan on a mission to photograph ICBM development sites in and around Sverdlovsk and Plesetsk in the Soviet Union. Attempts to intercept the plane by Soviet fighters failed due to the U-2's extreme altitude, but eventually one of the 14 SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles launched at the plane managed to get close enough. The aircraft was badly damaged, and crashed near Sverdlovsk, deep inside Soviet territory. The pilot, Gary Powers, was captured after making a parachute landing. Four days after Powers disappeared, NASA issued a very detailed press release noting that an aircraft had "gone missing" north of Turkey. The press release speculated that the pilot might have fallen unconscious while the autopilot was still engaged, even claiming that "the pilot reported over the emergency frequency that he was experiencing oxygen difficulties." To bolster this, a U-2 plane was quickly painted in NASA colors and shown to the media. (see photo). After hearing this, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev announced to the Supreme Soviet (and hence the world) that a "spyplane" had been shot down, whereupon the U.S. issued a statement claiming that it was a "weather research aircraft" which strayed into Soviet airspace after the pilot had "difficulties with his oxygen equipment" while flying over Turkey. The White House, presuming Powers was dead, gracefully acknowledged that this might be the same plane, but still proclaimed "there was absolutely no deliberate attempt to violate Soviet airspace and never has been", and attempted to continue the facade by grounding all U-2 aircraft to check for "oxygen problems". On May 7, Khrushchev dropped the bombshell: I must tell you a secret. When I made my first report I deliberately did not say that the pilot was alive and well... and now just look how many silly things they (the Americans) have said. Not only was Powers still alive, but his plane was essentially intact. The Soviets managed to recover the surveillance camera and even developed the photographs. Powers' survival pack, including 7500 roubles and jewelry for women, was also recovered. Aftermath The Paris Summit between Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev collapsed, in large part because Khrushchev demanded an apology over the incident. Khrushchev left the talks on May 16. Powers was convicted of espionage on August 19 and sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment and 7 years of hard labor. But he only served one and three-quarter years before being exchanged for Colonel Rudolph Ivanovich Abel on February 10, 1962. The exchange occurred on the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin. See also Lockheed U-2 FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-2_Crisis_of_1960