Men Remembered as Veteran Pilots : Crew: The three fliers who died in collision had thousands of hours of experience. A USAir co-pilot suffered two broken legs.

The cockpit crews of the USAir and SkyWest planes--three of whom perished in Friday’s fiery collision at Los Angeles International Airport--were veteran pilots who had logged thousands of hours in the air.

In Huntingtown, Md., neighbors described the USAir pilot, Capt. Colin F. Shaw, 48, as a mechanic at heart who tinkered for hours on old cars and planes.

For Shaw, who was killed in the crash, “half the fun was finding old cars,” said neighbor Tom Tearman. Shaw owned several restored autos and a Cessna aircraft, which he used “to fly up to old car shows,” Tearman said.

Shaw joined the airline in March, 1968, became a captain in mid-1985, and accumulated more than 15,000 hours of flight time, USAir officials said. He had flown Boeing 737 aircraft for five years.

Margaret Koehler, another neighbor, said Shaw seemed to love his job as an airline pilot. “That, and old cars, was all he talked about,” she said.

Shaw’s first officer, David Kelly, 32, the lone cockpit survivor, remained hospitalized with two broken legs. A seven-year Air Force veteran, he was hired by USAir in October, 1988, and logged more than 9,000 hours flight time, approximately 1,000 on a 737, the airline said.

The SkyWest cockpit crew--Capt. Andrew J. Lucas and co-pilot Frank C. Prentice III--died when their Fairchild Metroliner III was struck by the USAir jetliner.

In San Luis Obispo County, rain fell heavily Saturday as families of the two men gathered with friends in their homes.

Lucas, 32, lived with his wife, Susan, in Pismo Beach. He had worked for the airline since 1985, logging 8,783 flight hours, 4,100 of then on aircraft similar to the Metroliner III he was piloting Friday.

Prentice, 45, lived with his parents in an ocean-view apartment in Los Osos, near Morro Bay. Neighbors said he moved there about two years ago to help his mother care for his disabled father.

A tall, thin man who drove a sports car, he had been employed by SkyWest since 1989 and had flown 8,050 hours. Neighbors said he piloted corporate jets for a bank before joining SkyWest.

In Huntingtown, Md., about 50 miles east of Washington, neighbors paid their respects Saturday morning at the Shaw family home, a white, two-story Victorian house surrounded by a white picket fence.

Koehler said the pilot’s wife, Susan, and son, Devin, learned about the accident while watching television Friday night. Susan Shaw said that when the crash was reported on television, she “didn’t know it was him,” a neighbor said.

“But, when he didn’t call (home) right away, Susie said she knew” it was his plane, Koehler said. Later Friday night, a vice president at USAir called Susan Shaw and confirmed her fears.

Tearman said the pilot’s wife was “handling it well, but was exhausted.” He said Devin was “pretty broken up” and had spent the whole night watching television for news about his father.

Times staff writer Sam Fulwood III contributed to this article.