ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 56235
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Sunday 1 May 1960 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Lockheed U-2C |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force (USAF) |
| Registration: | 56-6693 |
| MSN: | 360 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Degtyarsk, Ural Region -
 Russia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Peshawar, Pakistan |
| Bodö, Norway | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Captain Francis Gary Powers, flying Lockheed U-2C, 56–6693 left the US base in Peshawar, Pakistan, on a mission with the operation code word GRAND SLAM to overfly the Soviet Union, photographing targets including the ICBM sites at the Baikonur Cosmodrome and Plesetsk Cosmodrome, then land at Bodø in Norway.
At the time, the USSR had six ICBM launch pads, two at Baikonur and four at Plesetsk. Mayak, then named Chelyabinsk-65, an important industrial center of plutonium processing, was another of the targets that Powers was to photograph.
All units of the Soviet Air Defence Forces in the Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Ural, and later in the U.S.S.R. European Region and Extreme North were on red alert, and the U-2 flight was expected. Soon after the plane was detected, Lieutenant General of the Air Force Yevgeniy Savitskiy ordered the air-unit commanders "to attack the violator by all alert flights located in the area of foreign plane's course, and to ram if necessary".
Because of the U-2's extreme operating altitude, Soviet attempts to intercept the plane using fighter aircraft failed. The U-2's course was out of range of several of the nearest SAM sites, and one SAM site even failed to engage the aircraft since it was not on duty that day. The U-2 was eventually brought down near Degtyarsk, Ural Region, by the first of three SA-2 Guideline (S-75 Dvina) surface-to-air missiles fired by a battery commanded by Mikhail Voronov.
Powers bailed out but neglected to disconnect his oxygen hose first and struggled with it until it broke, enabling him to separate from the aircraft. Powers was captured soon after parachuting safely down onto Russian soil. Powers carried with him a modified silver dollar which contained a lethal, shellfish-derived saxitoxin-tipped needle, but he did not use it
On February 10, 1962, Powers was exchanged, along with American student Frederic Pryor, in a well-publicized spy swap at the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, Germany. The exchange was for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel), who had been caught by the FBI and jailed for espionage
(Powers died in 1977 in an flying accident. He had been flying a TV reporting helicopter covering brush fires in Santa Barbara County. As he returned, his Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter, registered N4TV, ran out of fuel and crashed in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area several miles short of Burbank Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board report attributed the probable cause of the crash to pilot error (poor fuel management. Powers is buried in Arlington National Cemetery as an Air Force veteran)
Remains of U-2 56-6693 noted May 2006 displayed in Central Museum of the Armed Forces, Moscow. Parts reported Aug 2007 still in Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow, other parts reported at Museum of Military Technology, Ekaterinburg (alias Sverdlovsk) near where the plane was shot down.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_U-2_incident
http://www.blackbirds.net/u2/u2local.html
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1956_2.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Gary_Powers
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-May-2013 14:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-May-2013 14:55 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 13-May-2013 08:43 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 13-May-2013 10:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code] |
| 26-May-2015 20:04 | TB | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Embed code, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation