Starting in the 1950s, Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance flights flew from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. The U-2 flown by Francis Gary Powers and shot down over the Soviet Union in May 1960 was based at Incirlik - as was Power's unit, which operated under the cover of the Weather Observational Squadron of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The unit consisted of pilots recruited by the CIA to fly high-altitude reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union and other key sites.