Years later Powers became a helicopter pilot for a local news station in LA...Then he ran out of fuel, crashed and died. My pop knew Powers.....
wow. This guy had hard luck in his flying. Hope he had Jesus and is in Heaven.
Would you call that irony?
His son started, and I believe still runs, the Spy Museum in D.C.
I use to listen to his traffic reports on the radio. It was not until he died that I learned the story behind his life.
That isn't the whole story.
He was autorotating to where he knew there was a Little League ball field, which would give him ample room for a safe touchdown. But as he got closer he saw there were kids playing on the field, so he veered to one side and in the veering put the 'copter out of position for a soft landing.
Like all U-2 pilots, he carried the silver dollar with a poison 'suicide' needle secreted in it, even though CIA's personality tests indicated he was incapable of suicide. But his concern for the safety of those kids overwhelmed his instinct for self-preservation, and he died as a result.