Francis Gary Powers was born on August 17, 1929, in Jenkins, Letcher County, Kentucky. He was the son of Oliver Winfield Powers and Ida Malinda Ford Powers. He was married to Claudia "Sue" Edwards Powers. He worked as a photo lab technician before enlisting in the US Army Air Force in October 1950. He began flight training in 1951 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1952 after completing advanced training on T-33 and F-80 aircraft. He served as an F-84 Thunderjet pilot with the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron and was trained in nuclear weapons delivery.

In 1956, Francis was recruited by the CIA, left the Air Force as a Captain, and began training for the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance program. Flying missions from bases like Incirlik, Turkey, he conducted covert surveillance over the Soviet Union, using advanced cameras to photograph strategic sites from altitudes above 70,000 feet. On May 1, 1960, during a mission departing from Peshawar, Pakistan, Powers attempted the first full overflight across Soviet territory. He was shot down over Sverdlovsk by an S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) missile, one of 14 launched. The incident also led to the accidental downing of a Soviet MiG-19 and a failed interception attempt by a Su-9 jet. Powers parachuted to safety, discarded part of his suicide device, and was captured upon landing, later imprisoned in Lubyanka Prison in Moscow.

On August 19, 1960, Francis Gary Powers was convicted of espionage in the Soviet Union and sentenced to 10 years, with 3 years in prison and the rest in a labor camp. He was traded for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel on February 10, 1962. After returning to the U.S., Powers worked as a Lockheed test pilot, authored his memoir Operation Overflight, and later transitioned to a career in aerial traffic and news reporting in Los Angeles.

On August 1, 1977, Francis died in a helicopter crash while piloting for KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles. His Bell 206 JetRanger ran out of fuel and crashed in Encino, California, reportedly after he diverted the aircraft to avoid children in the area. The NTSB attributed the crash to pilot error, possibly caused by a misreading of the fuel gauge. He is now buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.Source of information: en.wikipedia.org