The aircraft he was flying had a history of flaming out. It was thought that he had descended to try to restart the engine but in his book “Operation Overflight” he stated that he was flying at proper altitude when he was hit.
“he stated that he was flying at proper altitude when he was hit.”
Pretty much what Ben Rich wrote.
They did suspect that an experimental jammer in the tail might have been beaconing rather than jamming.
The SA-2 could not maneuver at that altitude, so it was a straight in shot.
Pilots could take no evasive action and had no radar warning geat to warn them of a launch.
Big brass ones to fly over the center of Russia like that