PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Philip McPherson II, 37, of Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 78 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution by United States District Judge John M. Gallagher for involuntary manslaughter and additional offenses arising from a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot. Judge Gallagher also prohibited McPherson from working in the aviation industry.

The defendant was charged by second superseding indictment in April of last year. In October, he pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charge, as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.

As detailed in court filings and statements, on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off as the pilot-in-command of a Piper-28-140 aircraft from Queen City Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with student pilot K.K. Shortly after takeoff, McPherson crashed the plane, killing K.K.

As further detailed, McPherson acted with gross negligence because he knew that he was not competent to safely fly an aircraft as the pilot-in-command.

Specifically, McPherson knew that: (1) he was not competent to safely operate the aircraft because he had two prior crashes and almost a third; (2) he failed his September 29, 2021, reexamination for his pilot's certificate for a lack of demonstrated competence; (3) he voluntarily surrendered his pilot's certificate on October 7, 2021, acknowledging his lack of competence; and (4) he allowed his Temporary Airman Certificate to expire on November 8, 2021, thus further acknowledging his inability to demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") his competence to fly safely.

McPherson also admitted to 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. These flights occurred between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Federal Aviation Administration, and Salisbury Township (Pa.) Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.