Flight instructor pleads guilty in deadly Lehigh Valley plane crash

SALISBURY TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- The flight school instructor charged in a deadly 2022 plane crash in the Lehigh Valley pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday.

Philip McPherson, 36, of Haddon Twp., was serving as the pilot-in-command with a student pilot when the aircraft crashed into the front yard of a home in Salisbury Township, just one minute after taking off from Queen City Municipal Airport in Allentown.

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The crash killed 49-year-old Keith Kozel of Easton, who was a student pilot. McPherson survived the crash.

Investigators later revealed that McPherson did not have a valid pilot's certificate at the time of the flight. He had previously surrendered his certificate following two prior accidents and failed a reexamination in 2021 due to "lack of demonstrated competence."

McPherson is scheduled to be sentenced in January.