Spy Saga: How Aviation Week Covered The Soviet Shoot-Down Of A U-2

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down a high-altitude U.S. U-2 spy airplane and captured pilot Francis Gary Powers. Aviation Week parroted the U.S. government’s statement that the aircraft was down due to a mechanical failure, not a Soviet missile, which proved to be wrong. The Soviets traded Powers two years later in exchange for spy Rudolf Abel. The saga was the focus of the Hollywood movie Bridge of Spies.