A New Jersey flight instructor pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter in connection to a fatal plane crash that killed an Easton man near an Allentown airport.

Philip Everton McPherson II, 37, of Haddon Township, Camden County, had crashed planes twice and lost his pilot certification in the nine months leading up to the crash that killed his student, 49-year-old Keith Kozel.

McPherson admitted he was unlicensed to fly but gave Kozel a flight lesson anyway, court records say.

McPherson faces a maximum of 153 years in prison, although it’s unclear what the guideline sentencing recommendation will be at his sentencing hearing Jan. 17. Attorneys for each side didn’t answer Wednesday when asked what sentence they’ll seek.

McPherson pleaded guilty Tuesday to 43 of the 44 charges he faced. In exchange, the government agreed to withdraw one count of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration.

McPherson agreed to the final revocation of his pilot’s certificate, according to Marie Miller, an attorney with the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

McPherson failed his pilot certification examination twice, finally passing the third time in December 2019, court records say.

In November 2020, McPherson flipped a plane as he tried to land it during a flight lesson at Central Jersey Regional Airport, court records say. The plane was totaled, records say.

In March 2021, McPherson was giving another flight lesson when he veered off the runway into a snowdrift and bent the plane’s propeller and wing tip. This crash was also at Central Jersey Regional Airport. His then-employer fired him, and then he took a job in April 2021 as a flight instructor for Proflight Aero flight school in Bethlehem Township, records say.

After the crashes, McPherson was required to take a flight re-certification test, records say. The examiner had to take control of the plane to prevent it from crashing Sept. 29, 2021, records say.

McPherson surrendered his certificate and never bothered to re-test, records say. After that, he continued to provide more than 40 flight lessons to student pilots. All of them were at Braden Airpark in Forks Township, except for three at Queen City Airport in Allentown, records say.

McPherson has agreed to pay $102,000 in restitution to cover the cost of those lessons, records say.

Records say McPherson was teaching Kozel how to fly in September 2022, when the plane crashed in a residential backyard in Salisbury Township, about a mile from Queen City Airport. The homeowner pulled McPherson from the burning plane but was unable to save Kozel, records say.

Kozel was married with two daughters, his obituary says. He founded an IT consulting company.

McPherson flew despite advice from his attorney to not fly, ignored signs of engine failure at takeoff, and flew away from an open field that would have offered him a better opportunity for an emergency landing, records say.

McPherson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, criminal conspiracy and serving as an airman without a certificate.

The owner of a Proflight Aero flight school, Nouman Saleem of Palmer Township, admitted in May he allowed McPherson to keep teaching student pilots even though he was unlicensed and a safety risk.

Saleem pleaded guilty to obstruction of an administrative proceeding, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and criminal conspiracy. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in November.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.