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The Champion Aeronca 7AC, in fact, was "substantially damaged" in the crash that killed pilot Kristofer Noone, 24, of Pennsauken and his dad, John Noone III, 67, of Elmer, just before 2 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, the National Transportation Safety Board report says.
Witnesses told federal investigators that the plane sounded unusual as it left the end of runway 18 at Bucks Airport in Upper Deerfield Township. He saw the plane three or four feet above the runway before it "aggressively pulled up" into a climb at a steep angle.
"The airplane cleared power lines, but the engine did not sound like it was accelerating or generating full power," the NTSB report said. "The airplane did not appear to climb."
Instead, it descended, turned left, and rolled onto its left side. The witness at that point lost sight of the airplane when it went down behind trees — but the witness did hear the sound of an impact. That noise was the plane crashing in the yard of a home on Parvin Mill Road.
The airport owner was sitting in the pilots lounge, located near the end of runway 18, when he saw the airplane depart the 1,900-foot-long turf runway with about 50 feet remaining.
He said the plane entered a steep angle-of-attack and then slowly leveled out again, but he lost sight of the airplane after it slowly turned left, the NTSB said.
Kristofer Noone had been working as a first officer for Spirit Airlines, and previously held the same position for Piedmont Airlines out of Philadelphia, his LinkedIn profile shows. His father was also a certified pilot, federal officials confirmed. The two often flew together, sometimes with other family members, social media posts show.
After the crash, "no anomalies were noted" in the plane, federal officials said. The oil screen was clean and clear of debris. "A fuel sample was taken, and it was clean and clear, blue in color consistent with 100LL aviation gasoline," the report says.
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