A training flight that lifted off from Queen City Airport near Allentown ended in tragedy, and now the instructor is headed to federal prison. A federal judge on Thursday sentenced New Jersey flight instructor Philip Everton McPherson II, 37, to 6½ years behind bars for a 2022 crash that killed a student pilot. McPherson was given a 78‑month term on June 11, 2026, and ordered to pay restitution and fines after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and related offenses. The crash happened shortly after takeoff and left one man dead and the instructor seriously hurt.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia, Judge John M. Gallagher also imposed three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment and $19,530 in restitution, and barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry as part of the sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the penalties.
What investigators found
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the Piper PA‑28 suffered a partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons during the initial climb. Recorded flight data showed the airplane flying below the published best angle‑of‑climb speed. Investigators also noted that the temperature and dewpoint at the time were conducive to carburetor icing and that post‑crash fire damage limited how much they could test the components, according to the agency’s final report. NTSB.
Prosecutors say he flew while uncertified
Federal prosecutors say McPherson failed an FAA reexamination on Sept. 29, 2021, voluntarily surrendered his pilot certificate on Oct. 7, 2021, and then let his temporary airman certificate lapse on Nov. 8, 2021, yet kept acting as a flight instructor on dozens of flights anyway. Those details, along with his October 2025 guilty plea on involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate, are laid out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Hoodline previously reported on his 2024 indictment.
Flight‑school owner also pleaded guilty
The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General says ProFlite Aero Services owner Nouman Saleem pleaded guilty in May 2025 to conspiracy and obstruction counts and agreed to pay about $101,528 in restitution after investigators found students were billed for instruction that was not valid. The DOT OIG reported the plea and its findings.
How the crash unfolded
The Piper departed Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport on Sept. 28, 2022, and crashed roughly a minute later into a yard on Keystone Road in Salisbury Township, just under a mile from the runway, according to investigators and local reporting. A neighbor or contractor managed to pull McPherson from the burning wreckage, but crews could not reach the student pilot before the cabin was engulfed, local coverage reported. LehighValleyNews.com.
Victim identified
Local outlets identified the student pilot as 49‑year‑old Keith Kozel of Easton, and the Lehigh County coroner later ruled his death accidental. 6abc and other regional outlets published his name after the crash investigation.
The sentence closes the criminal chapter of a case that federal watchdogs say exposed oversight gaps at a small flight school, while prosecutors argued the penalties were meant to hold operators accountable and deter uncertified instruction. Local reporting and government releases trace the path from the NTSB finding of a partial loss of engine power to prosecutors’ allegations that unsafe, uncertified instruction put students at risk. NBC10 Philadelphia and the DOT OIG provide additional background on the plea deals and restitution orders.
