SALISBURY TWP, Pa. — A fatal plane crash outside a local home last month occurred just moments after takeoff, according to a newly released report.
A witness to the crash managed to pull the flight instructor, who survived, from the burning wreckage, but the fire had engulfed the cabin before he could reach student pilot Keith Kozel, 49, of Easton, the report says. Kozel did not survive.
- Keith Kozel, 49, of Easton, was killed in a plane crash on a Salisbury Township home's lawn on Sept. 28
- The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board reported that the Piper PA-28 crashed one minute after taking off from Queen City Airport in Allentown
- The aircraft crashed into a tree on the 1400 block of Keystone Road, a residential neighborhood fewer than a mile from the airport's runway.
The National Transportation Safety Board still is investigating what caused the Sept. 28 crash.
But in a preliminary report released Tuesday morning, the NTSB disclosed the Piper PA-28 crashed just one minute after takeoff from Queen City Airport in Allentown. The report didn’t provide an update on the instructor’s condition.
The single-engine aircraft crashed into a tree on the 1400 block of Keystone Road, a residential neighborhood just 0.8 of a mile from the airport's runway.
The witness told investigators he hadn't heard the plane until it crashed into a tree and fell into the yard, where it burst into flames, according to the report.
Registration data showed the aircraft belonged to ProFlite Aero LLC, a flight school that previously operated out of Braden Airpark in Forks Township. The company’s website and Facebook page were offline Tuesday morning, and its listed phone number did not appear to be in service.
