By NIGEL DUARA

Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES — The story, as told by Shawn Johnson, goes like this: She was headed to the David Letterman show early Monday afternoon from Chicago when the airline reported a problem.

Apparently, the pilot had an incident when he heard Johnson was on his plane.

‘‘I guess he just like freaked out and hit his head,’’ Johnson said Tuesday to a reported crowd of 7,000 in her first appearance back to her hometown. ‘‘They had to take him to the hospital for stitches.’’

The hysteria continued Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Arena, where the gold-medal-winning gymnast was feted with a reception worthy of a rock-star.

Johnson, 16, won one gold and three silver medals at the Olympics. Iowa has seen Johnson in several iterations: her ever-present grin at the Beijing Olympics, a bronze sculpture in the Iowa Hall of Fame, and an all-butter representation kept in a cooler at the Iowa State Fair.