A New Jersey flight instructor who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection to a fatal plane crash near Allentown now says his negligence did not contribute to the crash.
Philip Everton McPherson was giving a flight lesson to Easton resident Keith Kozel in September 2022 when the plane crashed in a residential backyard in Salisbury Township, about a mile from Queen City Airport in Allentown.
McPherson says he was pressured into taking the plea deal in connection with the crash, according to a motion to withdraw his plea, filed Friday by his new attorney Joseph D. Mancano of Wayne. The motion says McPherson’s previous attorney, Angelo L. Cameron of Philadelphia, failed to pursue a defense that the plane crashed due to engine failure, not pilot error…