The engine of a small plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in Cumberland County last month, killing a father and son, sounded “unusual” moments before the crash, a witness told federal investigators.
Pilot Kristofer Noone, 24, of Pennsauken, and his father, John Noone III, 67, of Elmer, were aboard a Champion Aeronca 7AC fixed-wing, single-engine plane that crashed in the yard of a home on Parvin Mill Road in Upper Deerfield Township on Sept. 19.
The plane took off from Bucks Airport, a small airfield with a turf runway located near the crash scene on the other side of Parvin Mill Road.
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board quotes a witness near the end of the runway who said the craft “aggressively pulled up” at a steep angle from the end of the runway.
It cleared power lines, but the engine “did not sound like it was accelerating or generating full power,” the report states. The plane didn’t appear to climb but descended and turned left before the witness lost sight of it behind trees. He then heard the impact, according to the report.
The plane was found in the front yard of a home, about 50 feet from the roadway. There was no explosion or fire as a result of the crash.
The NTSB report provides information from the preliminary investigation of the plane and the engine. No specific problems with the engined are noted.
According to the report, the skies were clear at the time of the crash, and the wind speed was 7 knots.
An NTSB spokesman previously noted that the full investigation of the crash could take one to two years to complete.
Both victims were accomplished pilots.
Kristofer Noone was a first officer for Spirit Airlines, flying the Airbus A320.
Hundreds honored the men during a recent memorial event at Bucks Airport.
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Matt Gray may be reached at [email protected].
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