Sept. 24, 1959
A Lockheed U-2C, 56-6693, Article 360, from the Strategic Air Command's 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS), flown out of Atsugi Air Force Base, Japan, and clandestinely operated by the CIA, runs out of fuel. Pilot Tom Crull makes an emergency landing at the civilian airfield at Fujisawa. The black-painted aircraft has no markings attracting curious locals, and officials. Military Police are dispatched to cordon-off the area, and at gunpoint, actually attracting unwanted attention. Pictures of the highly secret U-2C soon appear in the Japanese press who refer to the plane as the "Mysterious Black Angel." Factory repaired and assigned to Det. B, this will be the airframe that pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down in on May 1, 1960.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
U-2 out of fuel
Via Aviation History Magazine...the same airframe Gary Powers would later ride to infamy.
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