Фрэнсис Гэри Пауэрс: Американ ұшқышының тағдыры

American pilot (1929–1977)

Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U 2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U 2 incident. He later worked as a helicopter pilot for KNBC in Los Angeles and died in a 1977 helicopter crash.

Powers was born August 17, 1929, in Jenkins, Kentucky, the son of Oliver Winfield Powers (1904–1970), a coal miner, and his wife Ida Melinda Powers (; 1905–1991). His family eventually moved to Pound, Virginia, just across the state border. He was the second born and only male of six children. His family lived in a mining town, and because of the hardships associated with living in such a town, his father wanted Powers to become a physician. He hoped his son would achieve the higher earnings of such a profession and felt that this would involve less hardship than any job in his hometown.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Milligan College in Tennessee in June 1950, Powers enlisted in the United States Air Force in October. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in December 1952 after completing his advanced training with USAF Pilot Training Class 52 H at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. Powers was then assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, as a Republic F 84 Thunderjet pilot. Powers married Barbara Gay Moore in Newnan, Georgia, on April 2, 1955. In January 1956 he was recruited by the CIA. In May 1956 he began U 2 training at Watertown Strip, Nevada. His training was complete by August 1956 and his unit, the Second Weather Observational Squadron (Provisional) or Detachment 10 10, was deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. By 1960, Powers was already a veteran of many covert aerial reconnaissance missions. Family members believed that he was a NASA weather reconnaissance pilot.

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 at altitudes of 70,000 feet (21336 m), supposedly above the reach of Soviet air defenses. The U 2 was equipped with a state of the art camera On May 1, 1960, Powers' U 2A, 56 6693, departed from a military airbase in Peshawar, Pakistan, with support from the U. S. Air Station at Badaber (Peshawar Air Station). This was to be the first attempt "to fly all the way across the Soviet Union but it was considered worth the gamble. The planned route would take us deeper into Russia than we had ever gone, while traversing important targets never before photographed."

Powers was shot down by an S 75 Dvina (SA 2 "Guideline") surface to air missile over Sverdlovsk. A total of 14 Dvinas were launched, one of which hit a MiG 19 jet fighter which was sent to intercept the U 2 but could not reach a high enough altitude. Its pilot, Sergei Safronov, ejected but died of his injuries. Another Soviet aircraft, a newly manufactured Su 9 on a transit flight, also attempted to intercept Powers' U 2. The unarmed Su 9 was directed to ram the U 2 but missed because of the large differences in speed. As Powers flew near Kosulino in the Ural Region, three S 75 Dvinas were launched at his U 2, with the first one hitting the aircraft. "What was left of the plane began spinning, only upside down, the nose pointing upward toward the sky, the tail down toward the ground." According to his book Operation Overflight, Powers delayed activating the camera's self destruct mechanism until he made sure he could exit the cockpit before the charges detonated. When g forces unexpectedly threw him from the spinning aircraft, he could no longer reach the destruct switches. While descending under his parachute, Powers had time to scatter his escape map, and rid himself of part of his suicide device, a silver dollar coin suspended around his neck containing a poison laced injection pin, though he kept the poison pin. "Yet I was still hopeful of escape." He hit the ground hard, was immediately captured, and taken to Lubyanka Prison in Moscow. Powers did note a second chute after landing on the ground, "some distance away and very high, a lone red and white parachute".

When the U. S. government learned of Powers' disappearance over the Soviet Union, they lied that 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 that the Soviets had recovered its pilot and much of the plane's equipment, including its new top secret high altitude camera. Powers was interrogated extensively by the KGB for months before he made a confession and a public apology for his part in espionage.

Following admission by the White House that Powers had been captured alive, American media depicted Powers as an all American pilot hero, who never smoked or touched alcohol. In fact, Powers smoked and drank socially. The CIA urged that his wife Barbara be given sedatives before speaking to the press and gave her talking points that she repeated to the press to portray her as a devoted wife. Her broken leg, according to the CIA disinformation, was the result of a water skiing accident, when in fact it happened after she had had too much to drink and was dancing with another man.

The CIA, in particular chief of CIA Counterintelligence James Jesus Angleton, opposed exchanging Powers for Soviet KGB Colonel William Fisher, known as "Rudolf Abel", who had been caught by the FBI and tried and jailed for espionage. In any event, Angleton suspected that Powers had already revealed all he knew to the Soviets and therefore reasoned that Powers was worthless to the U. S. On the other hand, according to Angleton, William Fisher had revealed little to the CIA, refusing to disclose even his real name, and for this reason, William Fisher was still of potential value. However, Barbara Powers, Gary Powers' wife, was allegedly often drinking and having affairs. On June 22, 1961, she was pulled over by the police after driving erratically and was caught driving under the influence. He was debriefed extensively by the CIA, Lockheed Corporation, and the Air Force, after which a statement was issued by CIA director John McCone that "Mr. Powers lived up to the terms of his employment and instructions in connection with his mission and in his obligations as an American." On March 6, 1962, he appeared before a Senate Armed Services Select Committee hearing chaired by Senator Richard Russell Jr. which included Senators Prescott Bush, Leverett Saltonstall, Robert Byrd, Margaret Chase Smith, John Stennis, Strom Thurmond, and Barry Goldwater. During the hearing, Senator Saltonstall stated, "I commend you as a courageous, fine young American citizen who lived up to your instructions and who did the best you could under very difficult circumstances." Senator Bush declared, "I am satisfied he has conducted himself in exemplary fashion and in accordance with the highest traditions of service to one's country, and I congratulate him upon his conduct in captivity." Senator Goldwater sent him a handwritten note: "You did a good job for your country."

Powers sued his wife for divorce on August 14, 1962, claiming she cursed and abused him for no reason. Powers stated that the reasons for the divorce included her infidelity and alcoholism, adding that she constantly threw tantrums and overdosed on pills shortly after his return. He started a relationship with Claudia Edwards "Sue" Downey, whom he had met while working briefly at CIA Headquarters. Downey had a child, Dee, from her previous marriage. They were married on October 26, 1963. Their son Francis Gary Powers Jr. was born on June 5, 1965. The marriage proved to be a very happy one, and Sue worked hard to preserve her husband's legacy after his death.

During a speech in March 1964, former CIA Director Allen Dulles said of Powers, "He performed his duty in a very dangerous mission and he performed it well, and I think I know more about that than some of his detractors and critics know, and I am glad to say that to him tonight."

Powers worked for Lockheed as a test pilot from 1962 to 1970, though the CIA paid his salary. In 1970, he wrote the book Operation Overflight with co author Curt Gentry. Lockheed fired him, because "the book's publication had ruffled some feathers at Langley." Powers then became a traffic reporting airplane pilot for Los Angeles radio station KGIL. After that he became a helicopter news reporter for KNBC television.

Powers was piloting a helicopter for Los Angeles TV station KNBC Channel 4 over the San Fernando Valley on August 1, 1977, when the aircraft crashed, killing him and his cameraman George Spears. They had been recording video following brush fires in Santa Barbara County in the KNBC helicopter and were heading back when the crash occurred. His Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed at the Sepulveda Dam recreational area in Encino, California, several miles short of its intended landing site at Burbank Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board report attributed the probable cause of the crash to pilot error. According to Powers' son, an aviation mechanic had repaired a faulty fuel gauge without informing Powers, who subsequently misread it. It is surmised that, at the last moment, he noticed children playing in the area and directed the helicopter elsewhere to avoid landing on them. He might have landed safely if not for the last second deviation, which compromised his autorotative descent.

Powers' son, Francis Gary Powers Jr., founded the Cold War Museum in 1996. Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, it was essentially a traveling exhibit until it found a permanent home in 2011 on a former Army communications base outside Washington, D. C in Warrenton, Virginia.

In the 1976 telemovie Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U 2 Spy Incident, Lee Majors portrayed Powers. In the 1989 song We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel, one of the lines references the U2 based on this event. In 1999, the History Channel aired Mystery of the U2, hosted by Arthur Kent as part of their History Undercover series. The program was produced by Indigo Films. In the 2015 movie Bridge of Spies, dramatizing the negotiations to repatriate Powers, he is portrayed by Austin Stowell, with Tom Hanks starring as negotiator James Donovan. In April 2018, The Aviationist featured an article about the song "Powers Down", a tribute to Powers.