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Family Mourns Pilot Killed On Angel Flight Mission

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

Tampa International Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan says officials think the plane hit a large antenna.

By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
and ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 18, 2008

Updated: 07/18/2008 05:13 pm

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Harlan “Lanny” Northcott

TAMPA - A day after pilot Harlan "Lanny" Northcott and his two passengers died while he was attempting to fly a cancer patient home, his devastated family is trying to make funeral arrangements and thinking about a memorial service.

"I am barely functioning," said Northcott's daughter, Paula Klotz. "We are doing the best we can. We are awaiting the medical examiner's report before we can make any other arrangements. We would like to have a memorial service in Sun City Center."

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office completed all three autopsies today, said investigator Jeff Morrill. The causes of death are pending.

As he had done so many times in the past 20 years, Northcott planned to take to the skies Thursday afternoon on a mission of compassion.

With him in the small airplane were a cancer patient and a teenage friend of her family. The woman had just finished a treatment at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Northcott, a volunteer pilot for the medical charity Angel Flight, was taking them home to Stuart on Florida's east coast.

Six minutes after he asked for flight clearance, the unthinkable happened.

Before the Angel Flight could take wing -- shortly before 3:30 p.m. at Vandenberg Airport in east Hillsborough County, the Beechcraft Bonanza hit a tower, crashed and then burst into flames near the runway.

Northcott, 81, of Sun City Center, and Patricia Snyder, 49, and Tyler McLellan, 15, both of Stuart, died in the fireball, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

This morning, Northcott's son, Glenn, arrived at the airport to collect his father's belongings. He said he has not been allowed to visit the crash site and is not aware of any developments in the investigation.

In an emotional news conference hours after the crash Thursday, Northcott, a Continental Airlines pilot, said his father was scheduled to fly to Witham Field in Stuart.

On Thursday, Tyler's brother, Kevin McLellan, 18, got a tattoo memorializing his brother.

"He was young. Fifteen years old. Good kid -- never did nothing wrong to nobody. Always tried to help people; always tried to make everyone happy. It's a tragedy. It wasn't meant to be," he said today.

"My parents used to driver her [Snyder] to Tampa every other week," McLellan said. "Then someone turned her on to Angel Flight, and she pretty much just kind of went with them."

McLellan said his brother attended Martin County High School in Stuart. The rising sophomore played football and enjoyed hanging out with friends.

Tyler's aunt, Karen Osborn of Texas, said Tyler was a "really compassionate kid." She said he was more than 6 feet tall and more than 220 pounds. She said Tyler adored and took great care of his sister, 7-year-old Curry.

"Patty was a really good friend of the family's who had cancer," Osborn said. "The family had gone out to be with her when she got her news recently and it was bad news that she had to continue the chemo."

"She had to go back, and he said, 'I'll be your angel. I'll fly with you, I'll stay with you.' "

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, there have been two other fatal accidents involving Angel Flights.

A crash on June 3 in Iowa City, Iowa, resulted in the death of a passenger. The pilot and another passenger were seriously injured.

The other happened on March 21, 1996, in Coffeeville, Kansas, killing three people.

The NTSB also reported one nonfatal crash involving an Angel Flight on May 19, 2002, in Angola, Indiana.

In addition, there were three fatal crashes involving volunteer pilots who were either on their way to pick up patients or returning from taking a patient somewhere. Since the trips did not involve the transportation of patients, those flights are not considered Angel Flights, according to Ed Sells, mission coordinator for Angel Flights in Oklahoma.

Angel Flight mission coordinator Angel Gamble said Northcott had been flying with the organization since 2004, logging about 60 missions. "He was such a faithful, awesome pilot," she said. "He's one of those that stands out in my book. He was a go-to pilot." She said he helped out with disaster relief during the response to Hurricane Katrina, when the organization shuttled people and supplies.

Northcott also flew transplant missions, taking patients to locations where they could receive organ transplants. His last transplant mission was Dec. 6, taking a patient from St. Petersburg to Gainesville for a kidney. Gamble said that when he called Northcott, he giggled because he had just climbed a ladder to put Christmas decorations on his house.

"He said, "Are you kidding me? My wife's been after me for weeks to put up these decorations!'

"He said, "Absolutely, I'll go.' "

Gamble said Northcott was always reliable, and when the organization exhausted its list of pilots or had a cancellation, "if his schedule permitted, he was Johnny on the spot."

"He would drop everything to help our missions."

"It makes you realize how short life is," McLellan said. "Don't take it for granted. Obviously it wasn't meant for him to be here right now. … He's in a better place."

McLellan said he and Snyder had been roommates for about eight months. Snyder's voice can be heard on their home answering machine, cheerily telling callers, "I gotta walk out the door. … Gotta fly out for some chemo."

Snyder worked at Clock Family Restaurant in Stuart for four years. "I'm really, really upset here," said John Hoffman, a manager there. "Everybody here is stunned. All I can tell you is we miss Patty. We loved her so much."

Snyder, he said, "had fun no matter what she did and she had a laugh second to none and we'll never forget that."

Gamble issued a written statement offering condolences to the families of the deceased and saying the organization is cooperating with investigators. "Our hearts are saddened as we lost a fellow pilot and two passengers who were all friends and members of our Angel Flight Southeast family," the statement reads.

"Angel Flight Southeast upholds the highest standards and all regulations prescribed by the FAA. Safety and training are the organization's top priorities, with all existing volunteer pilots required to partake in bi-annual recurrent pilot training as regulated by the FAA. Their planes are required to undergo annual full inspections by FAA certified AP mechanics.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Corky Smith will conduct an investigation of the crash, said Kathryn Bergen, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Northcott had a current pilot certification with instrument rating, according to FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. His medical certificate – which he received last August – was also current, Bergen said. The FAA requires that, every two years, pilots show that they are in good health, have good eyesight, a good mental state and are taking only approved medications, Bergen said.

There is no upper age limits for pilots, Bergen said.

"There are many people in their 80s or 90s who have pilot certifications," Bergen said.

Stuart News reporter Will Stuart News reporter Will Greenlee, News Channel 8 reporter Jennifer Leigh, Tribune Reporter Jessica DaSilva and Tribune researcher Stephanie Pincus contributed to this report. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813)

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