# Francis Gary Powers

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Francis Gary Powers," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/francis-gary-powers/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*U-2 pilot whose 1960 shoot-down over the Soviet Union and subsequent capture the CIA initially denied any knowledge of, denying not only that he was CIA but that he was U.S. government at all, until trading him in a bridge-of-spies prisoner exchange. Buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Per John Kiriakou, after his U-2 career Powers ended up piloting a Los Angeles traffic helicopter, and was killed when it crashed.*

- **Aircraft:** Lockheed U-2
- **Shot down:** 1960, over the Soviet Union
- **CIA's initial position:** Denied he was CIA and denied he was U.S. government at all
- **Returned to U.S. via:** Bridge-of-spies prisoner exchange
- **Post-U-2 career:** Pilot, Los Angeles traffic helicopter
- **Cause of death:** Helicopter crash in Los Angeles
- **Buried:** Arlington National Cemetery

**Francis Gary Powers** was the CIA U-2 pilot whose 1960 shoot-down over the Soviet Union and subsequent capture the CIA initially denied. Per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) the agency *"not only just denied that he was CIA, we denied that he was USG at all"*, until trading him back in a *"bridge-of-spies"* prisoner exchange. Powers is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[1]

Kiriakou: *"This poor guy, after piloting the U-2, ended up piloting a traffic helicopter in L.A., and then he crashed that and was killed in the crash."*[2]

## The traffic helicopter (Arlington tour)

Per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), [Francis Gary Powers](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/francis-gary-powers), shot down in his U-2 over the Soviet Union in 1960, survived a parachute ejection that no one was sure was even survivable from that altitude, because U-2 pilots were expected to go down with their aircraft. Taken prisoner and paraded before Soviet media, he forced Eisenhower to admit the U.S. flew spy planes.[3][4][5]

When Powers returned home there was no hero's welcome; many Americans felt he should have gone down with the plane rather than be taken alive and embarrass the country. Unable to find work, he was eventually hired as a traffic-helicopter pilot by a Southern California television station and was killed in a crash while reporting on traffic. Kiriakou's assessment of his [Arlington](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/arlington-cemetery-spies) burial: *"He is exactly where he belongs."*[6][7]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. The Cost of Telling the Truth | John Kiriakou | Ep. 446 (2026-05-04), at 1:49:42. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JeTlw4Zy3o&t=6582s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-04-cleared-hot-446-cost-of-truth/
2. The Cost of Telling the Truth | John Kiriakou | Ep. 446 (2026-05-04), at 1:50:12. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JeTlw4Zy3o&t=6612s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-04-cleared-hot-446-cost-of-truth/
3. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 10:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=630s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/
4. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 11:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=660s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/
5. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 11:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=690s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/
6. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 12:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=720s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/
7. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 12:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=750s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/francis-gary-powers/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt