Headline Wednesday: U-2 Shootdown over Sverdlovsk, Cold War. A lone spy plane cruising at 60,000 feet over the Soviet Union suddenly becomes the center of a global crisis when Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 is torn apart by a surface-to-air missile near Sverdlovsk. This episode traces the mission from the quiet, high-altitude world of the cockpit to the moment Powers falls under a parachute into hostile fields, and the Soviets realize they have captured both the aircraft and its pilot. Headline Wednesday is the Wednesday feature of Dispatch: U.S. Military History Magazine, and the series is developed by Trackpads.com to bring pivotal moments in US military history to life.