Feb. 11, 1962 - The C.I.A. has formed a board of inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the capture of Francis Gary Powers by the Soviet Union and the crash of his U-2 reconnaissance plane in the Ural Mountains. Disclosure of the pending inquiry coincided with Mr. Powers’ reunion with his wife and parents today following his return to the U.S. under a cloak of extreme secrecy. The 32-year-old U-2 pilot was released by the Soviet Union yesterday morning in exchange for Col. Rudolf I. Abel, 59-year-old Soviet agent caught in Brooklyn in 1957. Mr. Powers had been in Soviet hands since his plane went down on May 1, 1960. The board of inquiry would be composed of officials of the intelligence agency. Such a board is usually appointed to investigate matters of this kind. It would not be a court-martial in any sense. There was no professional interrogation of Mr. Powers during his trip back from West Germany last night and today. He was examined by a flight surgeon en route and pronounced in good health.
