Evening star., 1962-09-05
U-2
U. S. Comedies Croft
May Have Stroyed
Continued From Page Al


Continued From Page A
President Kennedy ordered con
tinuation of this policy in
press conference statemen
January Is, 1861.
The Soviet protest note yes
terday morning demanded tha
the pilot be punished and tina
the United States apologize 70
the alleged overnight.
President Eisenhower's refus
al to apologize after the 1876
incident led to Soviet Premie
Khrushchev's refusal to atten
the scheduled Paris SUNNI
meeting and to cancellation 0
Mr.. Eisenhower's tour of tn
Soviet Union.
Mr.. Kennedy, then in tn
preliminary stages of his cam
paign for the presidency, sal
Mr.. Eisenhower should have ex
pressed regret" over the Incl
dent.
In yesterdays State Depart
ment answer, the Kennedy ad
lministration apparently at
tempted to conform to MI
Kennedy's conception of
proper reply.
'If the pilot Of the aircraf
in question did, in fact, violatr
Soviet territory" yester'
days American note said, "thi
act was entirely unintentiona
and due solely to a navigationa
error under extremely Difficult
flying conditions. Precaution
intended to prevent such Incl
dents are under review"
State Department official
refused to characterize tn,
American reply as an apology.
They said it was a reply" ant
an explanation"
Precautions Taken
The note also emphasized
that precautionary measure!
intended to prevent" accident.
ally treSpassing on Soviet ali
space are being reviewed.
Informed officials said thai
precautionary measures coulC
Include a requirement that
patrol flights made in baC
weather under difficult flyinl
conditions should follow course,
well away from Soviet territory
to allow for potential errors ii
navigation. Strict requirement.
to keep patrol planes undel
radar surveillance so that thu
pilot could check his position
accurately might also be laiC
down.
But qualified officials made
clear that the United States
has no intention Of haltins
such flights which are con,
sidered essential measures o
United States defense opera
tions. Patrol planes equipped
with radar and long-rangl
Photographic equipment ant
flying over international water
or the territory of friendly ma
tions keep such check as the,
can on military conditions il
and around Soviet border areas
Many Incidents
Flights of this kind hav,
been made for a dozen year
or more. Many incidents, in
. cluding the shooting down O
a number of United State
planes by Soviet fighters hav,
occurred as a result. TIL,
United States has on many oc
casions accused Russia of send
ing its fighters over interna
tional waters to attack anC
destroy American aircraft.
! American sources confirmed
the plane in the vicinity O
Sakhalin August 80 was a high
flying, long-range U-2 of tn,
type which had flown many
missions over Soviet territor!
before May, 1860. Since thu
August 30 flight was at nigh
it was not known here how thu
Soviet Union could be sure tht
claimed violation was the worl
of a U-2. The planes SLOW
speed and high altitude may
have led Soviet officials to con.
clude it was a U-2.
Washington officials said the
plane had returned to its base
but would not say where thai
was. Okinawa and Shemya ii
the Aleutian Islands were men.
toned as possible bases for the
patrol aircraft" as the All
Force plane was described ir
the Amercan note.
Soviet propagandists will
have less to work with in the
latest U-2 incident II the Krem-