2 County Pilots Aboard Doomed PSA Jet : Resident of Julian Was at Controls When Flight 1771 Crashed

Two San Diego County residents who were longtime PSA pilots were among the 44 victims of Monday’s crash of PSA Flight 1771 near Paso Robles. Gregg N. Lindamood, 43, of Julian, was flying the aircraft, and Doug Arthur, 41, who lived in San Diego and commuted by plane to Los Angeles International Airport, served as PSA’s chief pilot there.

Arthur, a 12-year veteran with PSA, was aboard the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco flight as a passenger, and his death was the second airline tragedy for his wife, Nikki St. Germain, who serves as PSA’s director of reservations in San Diego.

St. Germain’s brother, Donald St. Germain, was a PSA flight attendant killed in 1978 when PSA Flight 182 crashed into a North Park neighborhood after a mid-air collision with a single-engine Cessna 172 over San Diego. That crash killed all 144 people aboard the two aircraft, making it the deadliest aviation accident in the United States to that point.

Nikki St. Germain was in Florida on Monday and was flying to San Diego on Tuesday after hearing about the crash, said John O’Malley, assistant to the president of PSA. The couple has two young children, he said.

Hometown Unconfirmed

The airlines also listed two other victims of Monday’s crash as residents of San Diego--Neil and Mary Webb. But their hometown could not be independently confirmed by The Times. A spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles said a Neil and Mary Webb of Goleta are the only licensed motorists in California sharing the same address. A home telephone at the address in the Santa Barbara County community on Tuesday was answered by an answering machine.

Both Lindamood and Arthur were characterized Tuesday as serious pilots and among the best in their profession by a fellow PSA pilot.

Ken Pierson, who has been with PSA for 32 years, said he trained Lindamood as a pilot when he joined the airline in 1973. Since then, Lindamood had logged 11,000 flight hours, including 1,500 hours flying the BAe-146 jet since 1985, when the British-manufactured jet was purchased by PSA.

Pierson, who also lives in Julian, said Lindamood was not intent on making a lifelong career in flying and had made several real estate investments, including the purchase of a recreational vehicle park near Descanso, in preparation for his retirement.

Survived by Wife, Children

Lindamood is survived by his wife, Diane, and two young children, Pierson said. A man who answered the telephone at the Lindamood home on Tuesday politely declined comment.

“Gregg was a very private person,” Pierson said. “He was an excellent pilot, very professional and always on top of things. He took the program very seriously. He was a very dedicated man, both to his family and the job.”

Pierson said Lindamood was not particularly outgoing socially, but rather was intent on developing his real estate interests--including a 100-acre project he subdivided in Julian that enabled him to branch out in real estate.

Pierson said Arthur, as chief of PSA’s pilots flying out of Los Angeles, had been his boss for the past two years.

‘Dedicated to Company’

“He was very serious and very professional,” Pierson said. “He was very dedicated to the company and to aviation. I’m sure Doug had aspirations for upper management. He was a good pilot and a good manager, and was very open-minded. He was liked by all.”

Arthur, who joined PSA in 1975, had flown 7,500 hours before being promoted. As chief pilot, he maintained his flying status and certificate but was more immediately involved with supervising PSA’s pilots who operate out of Los Angeles International Airport, O’Malley said.

Funeral services for both men were pending Tuesday.