Peter Laird is a civilian aeronautical engineer. When the Cylon Attack began, he was aboard the Scylla, a civilian ship, when its passengers were "picked up" by the Battlestar Pegasus. He became the ship's Flight-Deck Chief despite not being part of the Colonial military. When he came aboard Galactica, he met his counterpart, Chief Tyrol. Upon looking on the Blackbird he was both appalled and impressed by Tyrol's new stealth fighter, especially because he designed the old DDG-62 engines used in the Blackbird (Pegasus).
Notes
- Ron D. Moore said in his podcast that he was tempted to give Laird a Scottish accent as a tribute to James Doohan, who played Montgomery Scott on Star Trek, as Doohan died around the time that the episode "Pegasus" was filming. Ultimately, he reluctantly decided not to.
- Moore also stated in his podcast that Laird was made the deck chief of Galactica in a scene that was ultimately cut from Pegasus. It is unknown whether or not this change is considered canonical and will carry over into the episode "Resurrection Ship" in any shape or form.