# Canonical recap data for U-2 Incident: Powers Shot Down (1960)
# Source: https://recap.at/1960/u2-incident-1960
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: u2-incident-1960
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1960/u2-incident-1960"
title: "U-2 Incident: Powers Shot Down"
aliases:
- Powers incident
- U-2 spy plane shootdown
- Sverdlovsk incident
- Operation Overflight
subtitle: The downing of an American spy plane over Soviet territory escalated Cold War tensions and exposed U.S. espionage operations to the world.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1960-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1960
decade: 1960
country:
name: Soviet Union
slug: soviet-union
summaryShort: Powers Allen Boothe was an American actor known for his commanding character actor roles on film and television. He received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
summaryLong: Powers Allen Boothe was an American actor known for his commanding character actor roles on film and television. He received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
lede: On May 1, 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over Sverdlovsk, deep in Soviet territory. The incident exposed a covert U.S. reconnaissance program, destroyed the diplomatic facade between superpowers, and set back Cold War relations by years.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Powers-boothe-zumawirewestphotos963564.jpg/1280px-Powers-boothe-zumawirewestphotos963564.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Powers Boothe"
importance: 81
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Pilot
  value: Francis Gary Powers
- label: Date
  value: May 1, 1960
- label: Location
  value: Near Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR
- label: Aircraft altitude
  value: 70,500 feet
- label: Intended destination
  value: Bodo, Norway
- label: Soviet air defense system
  value: S-75 Dvina missile
- label: Powers' sentence
  value: 10 years hard labor (August 1960)
- label: Powers exchanged for
  value: Soviet colonel Rudolf Abel (February 1962)
timeline:
- date: 1956-01-01
  title: U-2 program begins operations
  description: First U-2 spy flights commence over Soviet territory under CIA direction, approved by Eisenhower.
- date: 1960-05-01
  title: U-2 shot down
  description: Francis Gary Powers' aircraft is hit by an S-75 missile near Sverdlovsk while on reconnaissance mission from Pakistan to Norway.
- date: 1960-05-03
  title: U.S. cover story collapses
  description: Khrushchev announces capture of pilot; U.S. forced to admit espionage after denying U-2 was spying.
- date: 1960-05-09
  title: Eisenhower accepts responsibility
  description: President acknowledges authorization of U-2 flights, escalating tensions before planned Paris summit.
- date: 1960-05-16
  title: Paris summit collapses
  description: Khrushchev walks out of scheduled summit with Eisenhower in retaliation for U-2 incident.
- date: 1960-08-19
  title: Powers convicted and sentenced
  description: Moscow court sentences Powers to 10 years of hard labor for espionage.
- date: 1962-02-10
  title: Powers exchanged
  description: U.S. and Soviet Union conduct prisoner swap; Powers released in exchange for Soviet KGB colonel Rudolf Abel.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_Boothe"
  title: Powers Boothe
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The downing of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 exposed the U.S. reconnaissance program to the world and obliterated the diplomatic goodwill heading into an imminent Eisenhower-Khrushchev summit. The fallout accelerated arms-race escalation and became a defining symbol of Cold War espionage.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- invasion
- arms_race
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- discovery
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: Francis Gary Powers' U-2 shot down over Soviet Union, May 1960. Exposed U.S. spy program, derailed summit.
wikidataQid: Q503027
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: Soviet Confirms Shooting Down American Plane; U.S. Admits Spy Mission
  publishedAt: 1960-05-08
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: The Soviet Union announced it had shot down an American reconnaissance aircraft deep within its territory on May 1, and the United States acknowledged that the U-2 was engaged in intelligence-gathering operations. The incident marked an unprecedented Cold War confrontation.
  significance: 95
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Pravda
  publisherSlug: pravda
  headline: "RU: 'Amerikanskiy shpionski samolyot sbit nad territoriyey SSSR' / EN: 'American Spy Plane Shot Down Over Soviet Territory'"
  publishedAt: 1960-05-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: "RU: 'Amerikanskiy shpionski samolyot sbit nad territoriyey SSSR' / EN: 'American Spy Plane Shot Down Over Soviet Territory'. The Soviet government organ declared the destruction of the intruding aircraft as a triumph of Soviet air defenses and evidence of American aggression."
  significance: 92
  type: newspaper
  region: Soviet Union
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times-london
  headline: U.S. Reconnaissance Aircraft Brought Down in Soviet Union; Pilot Captured
  publishedAt: 1960-05-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The capture of American pilot Francis Gary Powers has intensified diplomatic tensions between Washington and Moscow, with the incident threatening to derail upcoming peace negotiations.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Time Magazine
  publisherSlug: time-magazine
  headline: "The U-2 Affair: How a Spy Plane Became a Cold War Crisis"
  publishedAt: 1960-05-16
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The downing of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and subsequent revelations about American espionage flights over Soviet territory have shattered the facade of Cold War civility and raised questions about U.S. intelligence operations.
  significance: 85
  type: magazine
  region: United States
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260609235711/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_Boothe"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-09
  label: Powers Boothe
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_Boothe"
