The Cold War from 1960 to 1975: the U-2 Incident

What started the U-2 incident?

When a US U-2 spy plane got shot down flying illegally over Soviet airspace

When did the U-2 plane get shot down?

May 1, 1960

What did China warn the US of months before the incident?

To stop flying planes over Soviet Airspace, the US denying the claims that they even had spy planes in the air at all

How did the US try to avoid blame after getting word that the plane got shot down?

The US figured that there was no way that enough of the plane had survived for it to be identified as theirs, nevertheless the pilot being alive. So they lied again, saying the pilot was off course

What was the Soviet Unions response to the US claiming the pilot was off course?

They produced both the wreckage of the plane, clearly marked to be from the US, and the pilot - alive

Who was the pilot?

Francis Powers

What did the USSR do to Francis Powers?

Interrogate and tortured him until he confessed on film to the entire spy operation

When did the US admit to the plane’s purpose and that it was illegally surveying in Soviet airspace?

After seeing the film of Francis Powers admitting to the operation

What was the significance of the U-2 incident?

Marked the beginning of significant decline in US-Soviet relations as this incident occurred just two weeks before a planned summit meeting between the two