Late country songwriter Brett James was flying the aircraft that killed him and his family, new details reveal.
People obtained a report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Monday, October 20, which revealed that James “requested a visual approach” to land before attempting to make a full turn. He then lost control of the aircraft, causing it to crash.
James stated that he “intended to perform a 360-degree turn to land,” per the report, but there was no further communication to air traffic control.
“Surveillance video showed the airplane flying over the runway before initiating a descending left turn,” the NTSB report read. “The airplane continued descending in the left turn before entering a tightening spiral and impacting the ground.”
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The report also has multiple witness statements. One claimed that they saw the airplane “rocking from side-to-side” before it was “rolling inverted and descending behind a tree line.”
No signs of engine failure were found and the aircraft is still undergoing investigation.
News broke on September 18 that James, known for writing hits like Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” died at age 57 in the plane crash, which occurred near North Carolina’s Iotla Valley Elementary School. It was later confirmed that James’ wife, Melody Carole, 59, and his stepdaughter, Meryl Wilson, were also killed in the crash.
“A Cirrus SR22T crashed in a field in Franklin, North Carolina, around 3 p.m. local time on Thursday, Sept. 18. Three people were on board,” a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) read at the time, confirming that the NTSB would be launching an investigation into the accident.
The crash took place two days after Wilson’s 28th birthday, per her final post on social media.
“28 years old.✨142 days sober,” she captioned an Instagram post on September 16. “Extremely happy to be here.”
Prior to his death, James wrote music for several notable names in the music industry, including Taylor Swift, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi and the Backstreet Boys. He worked closely with Underwood who remembered James in a social media tribute.
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“Some things are just unfathomable. The loss of Brett James to his family, friends and our music community is too great to put into words,” she shared on September 19. “Brett was the epitome of ‘cool.’ I see him in my mind riding up to my cabins to write on his motorcycle [and] his hair somehow perfectly coiffed despite being under a helmet for however long.”
Underwood’s caption continued with specific memories of her and James.
“I always loved hearing him sing ‘Cowboy Casanova’ because a sassy girl anthem should’ve sounded ridiculous coming from a macho dude like him, but somehow, he even made that cool,” she continued. “He was a good guy. I remember writing with him on a song that he basically wrote 75 percent of and had ready when he walked in the room.
Underwood added, “We filled in the blanks and added a little melody and I told him after that I didn’t feel right splitting the credit evenly when he did most of the work. He wouldn’t have it. He insisted that everything be equal.”
Her tribute also remembered James as someone who “loved the Lord” as her caption concluded.
“We even had the pleasure of singing together at church,” she shared. “My favorite songs to sing of ours are the ones that he or we wrote about Jesus because the thoughts and feelings behind them are so genuine and pure. I won’t ever sing one note of them again without thinking of him.”
