U.S. AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN OVER SOVIET AIRSPACE, IKE CLAIMS IT WAS A WEATHER PLANE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 1, 1960, a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down in Soviet airspace. The U-2 was piloted by Francis Gary Powers*.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in the final stages of his presidency, claimed that the Soviets had shot down a weather airplane that had accidentally strayed over Soviet airspace.
*Francis Gary Powers (1929-1977) was born in Jenkins, Kentucky & graduated Milligan College in 1950. FGP began his service in the USAF in 1950.
After his conviction on an espionage charge by the USSR, FGP was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in a prisoner exchange in 1962.
JFK+50 NOTE
Ike was later forced to admit the U-2 was a spy plane when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev produced the pilot and wreckage of his aircraft. It was one of the most embarrassing events of the Eisenhower presidency.
SOURCE
"U.S. Spy Plane Shot Down Over Soviet Union," JFK+50, May 1, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
