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Family, Friends Recall Pilot With 'Lanny-Style' Cookout

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Peggy Northcott, widow of the late Harlan "Lanny" Northcott, seated, is surrounded by friends and family as they offer their condolences at a barbecue in his honor on July 20, 2008.

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 20, 2008

SUN CITY CENTER - The memorial service started at sunset Sunday with prayers, hymns and recollections of Harlan "Lanny" Northcott. When it ended, an old-fashioned cookout began.

"Now we're going to do it Lanny-style," said son Glenn Northcott, 39. "We'll turn up the music and open up the bar."

More than 40 close friends and family members visited the Sun City Center home of Harlan Northcott and his widow, Peggy, to celebrate the lives of Northcott, 81, Patricia Snyder, 49, and Tyler McLellan, 15.

All three were killed Thursday at Vandenberg Airport when the propeller of Northcott's Beechcraft Bonanza hit an antenna about 200 feet off the runway, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.

Although it was raining, weather was not a factor in the fiery crash, NTSB investigator Corky Smith said.

"I lost my husband, my best friend and my soul mate," Peggy Northcott said Sunday.

For 20 years, Northcott flew for medical charity Angel Flight, providing transportation for patients in need. He loved helping people such as Snyder, who was on her way home to Stuart after receiving treatment at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. McLellan was a family friend of Snyder's who turned down a trip to Disney World to accompany her during her treatment, Northcott said.

Sunday, those who knew Northcott recalled his love of family and flying and his sense of humor and adventure.

The experienced pilot was humble and "lived completely under the radar," whether he was soaring through the skies or enjoying time with family, said his son, a captain for Continental Airlines.

Glenn Northcott said he had contacted Snyder's and McLellan's families and offered his condolences. He spoke of Snyder's "giving nature and positive attitude" and McLellan as "a young man after my father's heart" because of the teen's unselfishness.

"The minute this tragedy occurred, the skies of Vandenberg opened up," Northcott said. "Those three people walked hand-in-hand through the pearly gates. But it's not about the tragedy. It's about the celebration of their lives."

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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