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In reply to the discussion: Spy Plane Fries Air Traffic Control Computers, Shuts Down LAX [View all]KoKo
(84,711 posts)Sources told NBC News that the plane was a U-2 with a Defense Department flight plan. It was a Dragon Lady, said one source, using the nickname for the plane. Edwards Air Force Base is 30 miles north of the L.A. Center. Both Edwards and NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center, which is located at Edwards, have been known to host U-2s and similar, successor aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force is still flying U-2s, but plans to retire them within the next few years.
Gary Hatch, spokesman for Edwards Air Force Base, would not comment on the Wednesday incident, but said, There are no U-2 planes assigned to Edwards.
A spokesperson for Dryden did not immediately return a call for comment.
Developed more than a half-century ago, the U-2 was once a workhorse of U.S. airborne surveillance. The planes operational ceiling is 70,000 feet. In 1960, Francis Gary Powers was flying a U-2 for the CIA over the Soviet Union when he was shot down. He was held captive by the Russians for two years before being exchanged for a KGB colonel in U.S. custody. A second U.S. U-2 was shot down over Cuba in 1962, killing the pilot.
First published May 2nd 2014, 2:43 pm
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