◆ SpookStack

not been subject to Presidential authorization. The fact that such surveillance was taking place has apparently not been a secret to the Soviet leadership, and the question indeed arises as to why at this particular juncture they should seek to exploit the present incident as a propaganda battle in the cold war. This Government had sincerely hoped and con- tinues to hope that in the coming meeting of the Heads of Government in Paris Chairman Khrushchev would be prepared to cooperate in agreeing to effective measures which would re- move this fear of sudden mass destruction from -the minds of peoples everywhere. Far from being damaging to the forthcoming meeting in Paris, this incident should serve to underline the importance to the world of an earnest attempt there to achieve agreed and effective safeguards against surprise attack and aggression. At my request and with the authority of the President, the Director of the Centra] Intelligence Agency, the. Honorable Allen W. Dulles, is today _ briefing Members of the Congress fully along the foregoing lines. STATEMENTS BY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Statement of May 3! A NASA U-2 research airplane, being flown in Turkey on a joint NASA~USAF Air Weather Service mission, apparently went down in the Lake Van, Turkey, area at about 9:00 am. (8:00 am. edt.) Sunday, May 1. During the flight in southeast Turkey, the pilot reported over the emergency frequency that he was experiencing oxygen difficulties. The flight originated in Adana with a mission to obtain data on clear air turbulence. A search is now underway in the Lake Van area. The pilot is an employee of Lockheed Aircraft under contract to NASA. The U-2 program was initiated by NASA in 1956 as a method of making high-altitude weather studies. Statement of May 5* One of NASA's U-2 research airplanes, in use since 1956 in a continuing program to study gust-meteorologi- cal conditions found at high altitude, has been missing since about 9 o’clock Sunday morning (local time) when ‘Made ofally in response to press inquiries. on May 8 * Released to the press on May 5. ; May 23, 1960 its pilot reported he was baving oxygen difficulties over the Lake Van, Turkey, area. The airplane had taken off from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The flight plan called for the first check point to be at 87 degrees, 25 minutes, North: 41 degreees, 28 minutes, East, and for a left turn to be made to the Lake Van beacon, thence to the Trabazon beacon, thence to Antalya, and return to Adana. The flight scheduled was estimated at 8 hours, 45 minutes, for a total of 1,400 nautical miles. Takeoff was at 8 a.m. local time. - (The above-given times are the equivalent of 8 am. Sunday, and 2 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.) About one hour after takeoff, the pilot reported diff- culties with his oxygen equipment. Using emergency radio frequency, he reported he was heading for the Lake Van beacon to get his bearings, and that he would return to Adana. As indicated above, his fiight plan called for him to make a left turn at the Lake Van beacon. His last report indicated he was attempting to receive that beacon. It is believed he probably was on a northeasterly course, but there was no further word. An aerial search was begun soon after receipt of the last communication. The Lake Van area is mountainous and very rugged. No evidence has been sighted of the aircraft having crashed. . If the pilot continued to suffer lack of oxygen, the path of the airplane from the last reported position would be impossible to determine. If the airplane was on auto- matic pilot, it is likely it would have continued along its nortb-easterly course. The pilot, as are all pilots used on NASA’s program of upper atmosphere research with the U-2 airplane, is a civilian employed by the Lockheed Aircraft Oorpora- tion, builders of the airplane. When the research prograin was begun in 1956 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (Prede- cessor to NASA), the federal agency did not have a sufficient number of pilots to operate the program, and go a contract was made with Lockheed to provide the pilots. Overseas logistic support for NASA’s continuing use of the U-2 is provided by Air Weather Service units of the USAF. NASA bas procured a total of 10 U-2 airplanes. The airplane was originally built as a private venture by Lockheed to serve as a “flying test bed”. It is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney J-57 turbojet engine, and can maintain flight for as long as four hours at altitudes of up to 55,000 feet. Since inception of the research program in 1956, the U-2 flying weather laboratories have operated from bases in California, New York, Alaska, England, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan, Japan, Okinawa and the Philippines. The U-2 airplanes are presently being used in California (Edwards AFB, one), Japan (Atsugi, three) and Turkey (Adana, four). ; The instrumentation carried by the U-2 permits obtaining more precise information about clear air tur- bulence, convective clonds, wind shear, the jet stream, and “such widespread weather patterns-as-typhoons.. The air- __ 817 aye ee bet ee eee PA, wanes Bet at Lage weg an rer penne t ome eat Ste A a