The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

Text

This text came with the file. It may have mistakes. When the text and the image disagree, the image is right.

219
Seeret NOFOAN
Chapter 5
attention of Japanese reporters. One reporter even flew over the area
in a helicopter, taking pictures of the U-2. These photographs ap­
peared in many Japanese newspapers and magazines. 18
U-2 Crash in Thailand
Flights by Detachment C U-2s over Tibet and western China contin­
ued during the first half of 1960 under Operation TOPPER. The first
mission on 30 March was very successful. The second mission on 5
April took good photographs but encountered mechanical problems.
At the start of the mission, the landing-gear doors failed to close com­
pletely, resulting in increased drag and higher fuel consumption. With
no fuel gauge to warn the pilot of the critical fuel situation, the air­
craft ran out of fuel far short of Ta Khli, forcing the pilot to make a
crash landing in a rice paddy. The area was inaccessible to large vehi­
cles, and the plane, article 349, had to be cut into pieces in order to
remove it. With the help of local villagers, the retrieval team
dissassembled the aircraft for transport to the base, where the pieces
were loaded onto a C-124 under cover of darkness. The crash and
subsequent recovery of the U-2 did not attract the attention of the
p~e.ss; there was only one report in a local Thai newspaper, which
simply referred to the crash of a jet plane. In appreciation for the as­
sistance provided by the villagers, the Agency's Thailand Station
gave the headman funds to build a new school.19
End of Detachment C Operations
The loss of two aircraft in slightly more than six months left
Detachment C with just two aircraft. Fortunately, the level of mission
activity remained low because Detachment C was no longer conduct­
ing overflights of the Soviet Union.
One important remaining mission was high-altitude air sampling
(HASP), in which specially equipped U-2s gathered upper-altitude air
samples to look for evidence of Soviet nuclear testing. The direction
of the prevailing winds made Detachment C ideally situated for this
activity, which began in the fall of 1958 and continued in 1959. In
late April 1960, Detachment C was preparing to stage to the
Philippines to conduct additional air-sampling missions, when the
loss of Powers' U-2 temporarily halted all U-2 activities.
" Ibid.. chap. 15, p. 30 (TS Codeword).
'"' Ibid.. chap. 15. pp. 32-33 (TS Codeword).
Searet­