APALACHICOLA, Florida -- U-2 spy plane pilot Richard Stephen Heyser, who took the first photos of ballistic missile launch sites during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, has died. He was 81.

Heyser, who lived in Apalachicola, died Monday at a nursing home in nearby Port St. Joe.

The retired Air Force lieutenant colonel said in a 2005 interview with The Associated Press that no one was more relieved than he was that the crisis ended peacefully. He said he did not want to go down in history as the man who started World War III.

''I kind of felt like I was going to be looked at as the one who started the whole thing,'' Heyser said. ``I wasn't anxious to have that reputation.''

President John F. Kennedy announced to the world that the photos proved the Soviet Union was building secret sites for nuclear-tipped missiles 90 miles south of Key West. Kennedy then summoned Heyser to the White House after he made five flights over Cuba in nine days.

He was among 11 Air Force U-2 pilots who took photos over Cuba. Two were killed: One was shot down, and the other died when his plane crashed off Key West. A third pilot was killed in a crash while training for the Cuban mission.

CIA pilots earlier had taken photos of anti-aircraft missile launchers in Cuba. The Air Force pilots then were assigned to search for suspected sites of offensive missiles that could strike the United States.

Heyser later served two combat tours in Vietnam. He retired in 1974 after 30 years of service and returned to Apalachicola, where he was born and raised.

Heyser is survived by his wife, Jacquelyn, and three sons.

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