The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled in the case of a single-engine Piper aircraft which crashed onto a residential property along Keystone Road in Salisbury Township Sept. 28, 2022.

The crash killed the student pilot and badly injured his instructor.

The Lehigh County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased student pilot as 49-year-old Keith Kozel, of Easton.

In a story by Jim Marsh in the Oct. 6, 2022 issue of The Press, the airplane, owned by Pro Flite Aero Services, had taken off from Queen City Airport.

The pilot was identified as Philip Everton McPherson II, 36, of Haddon Township, N.J.

The craft first struck the upper portion of a large tree on the property and then landed upside down on the lawn just feet from the residence at 1480 Keystone Road.

According to the NTSB report, “The flight instructor reported that the purpose of the instructional flight was to fly to a nearby tower-controlled airport. After a preflight inspection and pre-takeoff engine run-up, the instructor asked the student to perform a soft-field takeoff.

“The instructor stated that, during the takeoff, the airplane had not become airborne by the time he felt it should and he prompted the student to increase the airplane’s pitch attitude and it became airborne. [Aircraft pitch attitude is the angle between an airplane’s longitudinal axis and the natural horizon.] The student then reduced pitch to remain in ground effect but settled briefly back onto the runway before re-establishing flight in ground effect. The instructor stated that the airplane seemed to take longer to accelerate to its best angle of climb speed which he attributed to the student’s initial slightly high pitch attitude.

“ ... The instructor assumed control of the airplane and maintained airspeed. He stated that the airplane was laboring in its climb, narrowly cleared the trees off the departure end of the runway and was unable to climb thereafter. Although the engine was running, it was ‘noticeably weak.’”

The report notes a witness to the accident reported he did not hear the airplane until it impacted trees. The airplane then hit the ground and a fire erupted. The witness was able to pull the pilot from the wreckage but was unable to extricate the student pilot before the fire engulfed the cabin section of the plane.

The NTSB determined the probable cause of this accident to be a partial loss of engine power for undermined reasons.

McPherson was charged Aug. 1 with alleged involuntary manslaughter related to the plane crash.

The indictment states McPherson “knew he was not competent to safely operate that aircraft in that he had two prior accidents and almost a third, he failed his Sept. 29, 2021 re-examination for his pilot’s certificate for a lack of demonstrated competence, he had voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate on Oct. 7, 2021 acknowledging his lack of competence and he allowed his temporary airman certificate to expire on Nov. 8, 2021.”

The indictment goes on to say McPherson acted “without malice but with gross negligence in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, ... flying the aircraft in an unlawful manner or without due caution and circumspection resulting in the aircraft crashing shortly after takeoff and the death of K.K. [the student pilot]. But for McPherson’s intentional and grossly negligent disregard for the safety of K.K., knowing he was not competent to safely fly the aircraft as the pilot in command since he had never mastered the skills necessary to safely operate the aircraft, K.K. would not have died.”

McPherson is also charged with 40 counts of allegedly illegally flying with passengers without a pilot’s certificate.