BY JANE PRENDERGAST,
ANDREA TORTORA
and TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Until Thursday, the three crew members of Comair Flight 3272 had little more in common than their ties to Northern Kentucky.

Now, Dann Carlsen, Kenneth Reece and Darinda Odgen Nilsen are linked forever as three of the 29 people who died when the Embraer Brasilia 120 turboprop went down in a field near Detroit.

Mr. Carlsen, the pilot, lived with his wife, Barbara, in a Warsaw Road house near Dry Ridge. They bought the 2-acre property in March 1994. He celebrated his 42nd birthday on November 18. He had no children.

He was well-liked at Comair and around Concourse C at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, co-workers said.

''He was the type of guy who would get out there and throw bags with the (ramp attendants) on a cold day,'' said a fellow pilot who asked not to be named. ''Typically, that's not in our job description.''

Mr. Carlsen, who flew for Comair for seven years, was the talk of Grant County Friday.

''You have to wonder what happened because I know these people and I know they are good, competent pilots,'' said David Buck of Union, another Comair pilot.

He had flown with Mr. Reece, the first officer of Flight 3272, last week.

The first officer

In August, Mr. Reece bought a house on Morris Road in Fort Wright. He and his fiancee, Pamela Mockbee of Anderson Township, lived in the red brick home.

Pilots Buck and Reece, during their stint together last week to Charleston, S.C., talked about Mr. Reece's house and the work he was doing on it.

The small, two-story house sits near the top of the Morris Road's incline.

''He had a hobby of restoring antique cars and he had an Anglia (a classic English Ford) that my 11-year-old son found fascinating,'' neighbor Jack Richter said.

Last fall, Mr. Reece's father towed the car to Northern Kentucky from the Monterey, Calif., suburb of Carmel, where the first officer grew up. Father and son spent hours in the driveway polishing the vehicle.

The flight attendant

Comair offered to fly relatives of the victims to Michigan. Jim and Ruth Ogden of Fort Thomas, parents of Mrs. Nilsen, declined.

''Why would we want to go up there?'' Mrs. Ogden said. ''We don't want to see that awful site.''

Mrs. Nilsen, 26, the flight attendant aboard Flight 3272, was raised in Fort Thomas but lived in Lexington.

A former waitress at Ruby Tuesday's restaurant in the Florence Mall, she had worked for Comair for four years.

Mrs. Nilsen met her husband, Ricky, at the University of Louisville.

CRASH
FAMILIES
MINISTER
SCENE
INVESTIGATION
TRAVELERS
COPING
INVESTORS
TODAY'S SUMMARY

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FIRST-DAY COVERAGE Jan. 10, 1997

Victims

First Officer
Kenneth Reece

Flight Attendant
Darinda Ogden

PASSENGERS
Adams, Dexter
Cincinnati

Barrow, Gregory
Detroit

Bransford, Roger
Atlanta

Brice, Arthur
Brookhaven, Miss.

Brownlee, Christine
Helena, Mont.

Brownlee, Scott
Helena, Mont.

Davis, Geoffrey
Detroit.

DeMarco, Maureen
Englewood, Colo.

Douchard, Greg
Brookhaven, Miss.

Felteau, Leo
Atlanta

Herman, Mark
Detroit

Jones, Betty Jean
Detroit

Jones, Charles
McComb, Miss.

McClain, Steven
Detroit

Muskovitz, Teri
Detroit

Passariello, Kim
Detroit

Raymond, Roy
Twin Falls, Id.

Raymond, Vernamarie
Twin Falls, Id.

Rosiak, Jennifer
Pensacola, Fla.

Rosiak, Nicholas
Pensacola, Fla.

Sharangpani, Arati
Colts Neck, N.J.

Stearn, Richard
Detroit

Takenami, Keita
Lexington, Ky.

Thomas, Douglas
Detroit.

Wansedel, Charles
Detroit

Zagar, Darlene
Danville, Ky.