AIR AMERICA PILOT TO SPEAK AT MONROE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY and VFW FOR VETERANS’ DAY WEEKEND 

Neil Hansen began his aviation career as a pilot for the now disappeared Teamster boss, Jimmy Hoffa.  In 1964, he became a captain for Air America, the CIA’s secret airline, in Vietnam and Laos during the Vietnam War era.  Air America pilots risked their lives over the skies of Southeast Asia during the days of the Vietnam War and the secret war in Laos. Air America did not operate within the context of the U.S. military, instead performing their duties as “shadow warriors,” owned and operated under the Central Intelligence Agency.   Neil’s presentations bring audiences with him into the cockpit and onto the dirt mountain landing strips of Southeast Asia during a time in history when flying conditions were risky and avionics technology comparatively primitive.

Having survived a shoot-down over Laos, Capt Hansen became a Buddhist monk for a short time after 9 years with Air America.  Following that, Hansen flew for the New Zealand forest service and as a pilot for tourist flights.  In 1974, he returned to Southeast Asia and flew with several carriers in Cambodia during the little-known emergence of the Khmer Rouge, a holocaust which would ultimately take the lives of 1.7 million people.  He escaped with his life from Cambodia by stealing a plane and flying in the blind to Bangkok, mere hours prior to the murderous troops closing the airport.

Capt. Hansen’s presentations bring audiences with him into the cockpit and onto the dirt mountain landing strips of Southeast Asia during a time in history when flying conditions were risky and avionics technology comparatively primitive.  Join him on November 10 at the Monroe County Public Library, 700 Fleming Street, Key West, at 10am in the Palm Garden for Café con Libros, and November 12th, 1pm at the VFW, 2200 N. Roosevelt Blvd.  Capt. Hansen’s book “FLIGHT  An Air America Pilot’s Story of Adventure, Descent and Redemption” (History Publishing Company LLC, 2019) will be available.

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