Flight Instructor Charged with Manslaughter in Pennsylvania Crash That Killed Student Pilot!
A flight instructor faces up to 128 years in prison after a 2022 crash killed a student pilot—find out what went wrong! 🌐 #News #PhiladelphiaPA #Pennsylvania #PlaneCrash
PHILADELPHIA, PA – A New Jersey man is facing charges including involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2022 plane crash that killed a student pilot in Pennsylvania, authorities said.
Philip Everton McPherson II, 36, was charged by indictment of one count of involuntary manslaughter and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Monday.
On Sept. 28, 2022, McPherson, operating as a flight instructor, served as the pilot-in-command of a Piper-28-140 aircraft being flown by student pilot Keith Kozel, 49. The pair took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown, Penn., and soon after there was a mechanical failure of the engine.
McPherson took over the controls and ultimately crashed the plane, scraping trees before crashing into the front yard of a home in Salisbury Township, narrowly avoiding homes on Keystone Road. Kozel was killed, while McPherson was pulled from the wreckage and survived.
According to the indictment, McPherson allegedly acted with gross negligence “because he knew that he was not competent to safely fly an aircraft as the pilot-in-command.”
McPherson allegedly knew he was not competent because he had two previous accidents, and nearly a third; failed his reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in 2021 for a lack of demonstrated competence; voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate on Oct. 7, 2021, acknowledging his lack of competence; and allowed his Temporary Airman Certificate to expire on Nov. 8, 2021.
The certificates are required by the Federal Aviation Administration to pilot aircraft, as well as to serve as pilot-in-command while teaching student pilots how to fly.
The 40 counts of illegally serving as the pilot-in-command of an aircraft with passengers while not possessing an FAA pilot’s certificate permitting him to do so relate to flights taken between Oct. 12, 2021, and Sept. 20, 2022.
If convicted, McPherson faces up to 128 years in prison and three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $10.25 million, and a special assessment of $4,100.
Reminder: All parties are considered innocent before proven guilty. Written by TMX staff, with additional reporting by Jack and Kitty Norton.
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