http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB74/
The National Security Archive
The U-2, OXCART, and the SR-71
U.S. Aerial Espionage in the Cold War and Beyond
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 74
Jeffrey T. Richelson, editor
October 16, 2002
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB74/U2-10.pdf
Document 10
CIA, Debriefing of Francis Gary Powers, February 13, 1962, Top Secret, 31 pp.
Source: National Archives, CIA 1998 Release.
Francis Gary Powers parachuted to earth after his U-2 had been shot down and was turned over to Soviet authorities. A well-publicized trial followed and he was sentenced to 10 years "deprivation of liberty," the first three in a Soviet prison, but was exchanged in 1962 for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.(10) Upon return to the United States, Powers was debriefed extensively. This is one of a number of transcripts from his debriefing. Among the topics discussed are the moments before and after a Soviet surface-to-air missile detonated near his plane, bringing it, and him, down.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB74/U2-10.pdf
DEBRIEFING OF FRANCIS GARY POWERS
Date: 13 February 1962
[ 25X1A9a ] And what was the purpose of that destructor mechanism to destroy the equipment or the plane itself?
Powers: The equipment. Well I don't know how much of the plane it would destroy, but ah my understanding was the equipment it was to destroy. And in destroying that it would of course destroy some of the airplane too. And the ah explosive itself is located in the equipment bay. Back behind the pilot ah I don't know how far
[ 25X1A9a ] You had some briefing on that?
Powers: Yes ah, we had gone over that ah in meetings before this. But it's been so long now that I can't remember just how this thing worked. But here is something that ah they told me during the investigation of this - ah there in Moscow and they were lying to me, and I knew they were lying to me but ah they told me that ah this was hooked up so that when I pulled the ejection seat that it would destroy the airplane and me too. Well later on this is ah they let me read these findings that their so call experts ah in studying this found out and the experts didn't know anything about this. It was just a trick to make me turn against the CIA in this little bit. But I knew they were lying.
