U-2 Crisis of 1960

The U-2 Crisis of 1960 was an incident that worsened East-West relations during the Cold War.

On May 1, 1960 (15 days before the opening of an East-West summit conference in Paris), a U.S. spy plane of the type Lockheed U-2 was shot down deep inside Soviet territory. The pilot, Gary Powers, was captured after making a parachute landing. The incident was first announced by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev on May 5, whereupon the U.S. issued a statement claiming that it was a "weather research aircraft" which strayed into Soviet airspace after the pilot had "difficulties with his oxygen equipment" while flying over Turkey. After another, more detailed, statement by Khrushchev on May 7 (in which he first disclosed that the pilot was alive and had testified about his mission), the U.S. admitted to the real nature of the flight. When the summit conference opened, the U.S.S.R. demanded an apology for the incident, and when this was refused, the talks broke down.