Francis Gary Powers Francis Gary Powers ( August 17 , 1929 – August 1 , 1977 ) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency U - 2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace , causing the 1960 U - 2 incident . Early life . Powers was born in Jenkins , Kentucky , to Oliver and Ida Powers . He grew up in Pound , Virginia , just across the state border . Graduating from Milligan College in Tennessee , in 1950 , he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force . After completing his training , Powers was assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base , Georgia , as an F - 84 Thunderjet pilot . According to his son , he did not fly combat missions during the Korean War , because he was recruited by the CIA for his outstanding record in single engine jet aircraft . By 1960 , Powers was already a veteran of many covert aerial reconnaissance missions . The U - 2 Incident . Powers was discharged from the Air Force in 1956 with the rank of captain . He then joined the CIA ' s U - 2 program at the civilian grade of GS - 12 . U - 2 pilots flew espionage missions using an aircraft that could reach altitudes above 70 , 000 feet ( 21 , 3 km ) , making it invulnerable to Soviet anti - aircraft weapons of the time . The U - 2 was equipped with a state - of - the - art camera designed to take high - resolution photos from the edge of the stratosphere over hostile countries , including the Soviet Union . U - 2 missions systematically photographed military installations and other important sites . Soviet intelligence , especially the KGB , had been aware of U - 2 missions since 1956 , but they lacked effective counter - measures until 1960 . Powers ’ U - 2 , which departed from a military airbase in Peshawar , Pakistan and may have received support from the US Air Station at Badaber ( Peshawar Air Station ) , was shot down by an S - 75 Dvina ( SA - 2 Surface to Air ) missile on May 1 , 1960 , over Sverdlovsk . Powers was unable to activate the plane ' s self - destruct mechanism before he parachuted to the ground and was captured . Powers ' U - 2 plane was hit by the first S - 75 missile fired . A total of eight were launched ; one missile hit a MiG - 19 jet fighter sent to intercept the U - 2 , but could not reach a high enough altitude . The Soviet pilot , Sergey Safronov , crashed his plane in an unpopulated forest area rather than bail out and risk his plane crashing into nearby Degtyarsk . Another Soviet aircraft , a newly manufactured Su - 9 in transit flight , also attempted to intercept Powers ' U - 2 . The unarmed Su - 9 was directed to ram the U - 2 . The pilot attempted but missed because of the large differences in speed . Powers claimed , as recounted in " The Skunk Works " , that upon ejecting he saw the parachute of another pilot deploy behind him . When the U . S . government learned of Powers ' disappearance over the Soviet Union , they issued a cover statement claiming a " weather plane " had strayed off course after its pilot had " difficulties with his oxygen equipment . " What CIA officials did not realize was that the plane crashed almost fully intact , and the Soviets recovered its equipment . Powers was interrogated extensively by the KGB for months before he made a confession and a public apology for his part in espionage . The incident set back talks between Khrushchev and Eisenhower . On August 17 , 1960 , Powers was convicted of espionage against the Soviet Union and was sentenced to a total of ten years , three years in imprisonment followed by seven years of hard labor . He was held in Vladimir Central Prison , 100 miles east of Moscow . The prison contains a small museum with an exhibit on Powers , who allegedly developed a good rapport with Russian prisoners there . Some pieces of the plane and Gary Powers ' uniform are on display at the Monino Airbase museum , close to Moscow . 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 . In 2010 , CIA documents were released indicating that " top US officials never believed Powers ’ account of his fateful flight because it appeared to be directly contradicted by a report from the National Security Agency , the clandestine US network of codebreakers and listening posts . The NSA report remains classified , possibly to spare the blushes of its authors . For it is now possible to piece together what really happened high over Sverdlovsk on May 1 , 1960 , and to understand why America ’ s most secretive intelligence agency got it so wrong " . According to the article cited , the still classified NSA report is incorrect based on the CIA documents that were declassified which show that Powers ' account of being shot down at altitude was accurate . Aftermath . Powers received a cold reception on his return home . Initially , he was criticized for having failed to activate his aircraft ’ s self - destruct charge to destroy the camera , photographic film , and related classified parts of his aircraft before his capture . He was also criticized for not using an optional CIA - issued " suicide pill " to kill himself . After being debriefed extensively by the CIA , Lockheed , and the Air Force , on March 6 , 1962 , Powers appeared before a Senate Armed Services Select Committee hearing chaired by Senator Richard Russell and including Senators Prescott Bush and Barry Goldwater Sr . It was determined that Powers had followed orders , had not divulged any critical information to the Soviets , and had conducted himself “ as a fine young man under dangerous circumstances . ” Powers worked for Lockheed as a test pilot from 1963 to 1970 . In 1970 , he co - wrote a book called " Operation Overflight : A Memoir of the U - 2 Incident . " Lockheed fired him , it was widely believed , because the book cast negative publicity on the CIA . Powers became an airborne traffic reporter for radio station KGIL Los Angeles . A fixed - wing pilot , he was then hired by television station KNBC to pilot their " telecopter " , a helicopter equipped with externally mounted 360 - degree cameras . The telecopter had been in service for years , and was purchased from KTLA , Channel 5 . In 1976 , Powers ' biography ( written with Curt Gentry ) became a television movie , " Francis Gary Powers : The True Story of the U - 2 Spy Incident " . Lee Majors played the role of Powers . Fatal crash . Powers died in 1977 in an accident . He had been 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 ) . According to Powers ' son , an aviation mechanic had repaired a faulty fuel gauge without telling Powers , who misread it . At the last moment he noticed children playing in the area , and directed the helicopter elsewhere to prevent their deaths . If not for the last second deviation , which compromised his autorotative descent , he might have landed safely . Powers was survived by his wife , two children , Dee and Francis Gary Powers Jr . , and five sisters . Powers is buried in Arlington National Cemetery as an Air Force veteran . His grave can be found in section 11 , lot 685 - 2 , grid O / P - 15 . 5 . Honors . Powers received the CIA ' s Intelligence Star in 1965 after his return from the Soviet Union . Powers was originally scheduled to receive it in 1963 along with other pilots involved in the CIA ' s U - 2 program , but the award was postponed for political reasons . In 1970 , Powers published his first — and only — book review , on a work about aerial reconnaissance , " Unarmed and Unafraid " by Glenn Infield , in the monthly magazine , Business & Commercial Aviation . " The subject has great interest to me , " he said , in submitting his review . ( Letter to G . Haber , Managing Editor , BCA ) In 1998 , newly declassified information revealed that Powers ’ mission had been a joint USAF / CIA operation . In 2000 , on the 40th anniversary of the U - 2 Incident , his family was presented his posthumously awarded Prisoner of War Medal , Distinguished Flying Cross , and National Defense Service Medal . In addition , CIA Director George Tenet authorized Powers to posthumously receive the CIA ' s coveted Director ' s Medal for extreme fidelity and extraordinary courage in the line of duty . On June 15 , 2012 , Powers was posthumously awarded the Silver Star medal for " demonstrating ' exceptional loyalty ' while enduring harsh interrogation in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow for almost two years . " Air Force Chief of Staff Gen . Norton Schwartz presented the decoration to Powers ’ grandchildren , Trey Powers , 9 , and Lindsey Berry , 29 , in a Pentagon ceremony . Military awards . Silver star citation . For the period of May 1 , 1960 - February 10 , 1962 Powers was presented with the Silver Star medal . Distinguished Flying Cross . Per Special Order GB - 124 dated November 24 , 1986 by the Department of the Air Force , Powers was presented the Distinguicked flying cross . The Medal had had the date of action of Prisoner of War medal . Powers was presented the Prisoner of War medal with effective dates from May 1 , 1960 - February 10 , 1962 . Legacy . Powers ' son , Francis Gary Powers Jr . , founded a museum of Cold War history in 1996 . Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution , it was long essentially a traveling exhibit until it found a permanent home in 2011 on a former Army communications base outside Washington .