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U.S. pilot killed in spy plane crash
Associated Press
Published June 23, 2005
An American U-2 spy plane crashed while returning to its base in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, killing the pilot after a mission in support of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The AP reported, citing a Pentagon official that it did not identify, that the aircraft crashed in the Emirates while approaching the base to land. Early reports gave no indication of any hostile fire, but it was too soon to be certain why it crashed, the official said.
The U-2 is a single-seat, single-engine reconnaissance plane that operates at an altitude of more than 70,000 feet and that has been used in every major conflict the United States has fought since the aircraft went into service a half-century ago.
According to the military, the crash happened at 7:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday - early Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates.
A U-2 was shot down May 1, 1960, over Soviet territory while photographing Soviet missile installations. Pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured and held for almost two years before being traded for a KGB captive.
In the summer of 1962, U.S. spy planes detected Soviet missiles being installed in Cuba. Tensions peaked during the following U.S. naval blockade when Cuba shot down a U-2 on Oct. 27.
[Last modified June 23, 2005, 00:47:00]
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