On this day 60 years ago, a S-75 surface-to-air missile was fired by China’s 2nd surface-to-air missile battalion in Beijing and it shot down a Martin RB-57D Canberra high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, #5643, over Tong County Zhangjiawan. It was the first time that a surface-to-air missile had brought down an aircraft.
AMB Brescia [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The pilot of the RB-57D, Lt. Wang Ying Ch’in from the Republic of China Air Force was killed.