Air Force One pilot Hanson dies at age 81

LACONIA, N.H. (AP) -- Lewis Hanson, a pilot for four presidents who co-piloted the flight that brought John F. Kennedy's body back from Dallas aboard Air Force One, has died. He was 81.
Hanson, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, died at a hospital Tuesday, according the Mayhew Funeral Home in Meredith.
Hanson flew everyone from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Shah of Iran. His presidential passengers included President Harry S. Truman, General (and later President) Dwight D. Eisenhower and President Lyndon Johnson.
No flight was sadder for him than bringing Kennedy's body back to Washington from Dallas. On Nov. 22, 1963, he had watched Kennedy step from the plane at Love Field, then went to visit his mother-in-law. He saw news of the assassination on television.
"My mind rejected the idea, as though it was some kind of bad dream," said Hanson, who flew as pilot or back-up pilot on every trip during Kennedy's presidential years.
Hanson retired in 1969 to Center Harbor, where he raised cattle and chickens and produced maple syrup. He became a selectman in 1970, a position he held for more than 35 years until his death.