Aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances in a residential yard and caught on fire.
ProFlite Aero LLC
Date: 28-SEP-22
Time: 14:57:00Z
Regis#: N7329F
Aircraft Make: PIPER
Aircraft Model: PA28
Event Type: ACCIDENT
Highest Injury: FATAL
Total Fatal: 1
Flight Crew: 1 Fatal
Pax: 1 Serious Injuries
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: SUBSTANTIAL
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: UNKNOWN (UNK)
Operation: 91
City: ALLENTOWN
State: PENNSYLVANIA
Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation may contact them by email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov. You can also call the NTSB Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.
SALISBURY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania - The Lehigh County coroner says dental records are needed to identify the victim of Wednesday's plane crash, as the plane exploded with the man inside.
A second person did survive thanks to the quick actions of Ron Diehl, who was doing renovation at the home where the plane crashed.
"He says get my student. I said holy crap there is somebody else in there," Diehl said.
Moments after, Diehl pulled the man out of the cockpit. This, after the Piper PA-28 crashed in front of him, exploding shortly after.
Diehl says he saw a foot amongst the wreckage, grabbed it, and pulled.
"The wing was sticking up in the air. The wing's coming down, it's like literally going to fall right on me and him. I don't know what happened, but I just dove with him and it landed next to me on fire and when that hit then the fire really took off," he said.
There was nothing more the 47-year-old could do, as he said the cockpit looked like a furnace.
He says he was at the Salisbury Township home doing renovation work when the plane came down nearly on top of him.
"I could see the guy's sunglasses in the windshield. I'm not kidding. I just dove out of the way and as I turned around it struck a tree, and just burst into flames. Pieces went flying," he said.
The plane is registered to Pro Flight Aero Services, a flight training school, with a lease at Queen City. It had taken off from the airport before crashing.
The coroner says dental records are needed to ID the victim. The man Diehl saved was taken to the hospital.
Diehl says there was never a moment when he didn't think of his 3-year-old twins and doesn't consider himself a hero, but he certainly saved a life.
"If myself or a loved one was in that situation I would hope someone would try. All you can do is try," he said.
Diehl says when he pulled the man from the plane he was covered in black soot or a similar material.
An autopsy for the victim is set for Friday.
The National Transportation Safety Board says a preliminary report is expected in two to three weeks, which will give some facts and circumstances of what led to the crash. A full report is expected in one to two years.
