Superstar country songwriter Brett James’ single-engine plane went into a “tightening spiral” before it crashed to the ground in North Carolina, killing everyone on board, the NTSB said.
The private Cirrus SR22T plane piloted by James — who wrote such hits as Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel” — was approaching Macon County Airport in Franklin on Sept. 18 with his wife and stepdaughter when he “requested a visual approach to runway 7 from air traffic control,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Shortly after, the pilot transmitted (while still tuned to the controller’s radio frequency) that he was at 6,800 feet and intended to perform a 360 degree turn to land on runway 7,” the report said.
“There were no further transmissions received from the pilot,” the NTSB said.
“Multiple witnesses near the accident site reported observing the airplane flying at a low altitude near the airport and over a nearby school playground. The airplane was described as rocking side-to-side, with its wingtips moving up and down before rolling inverted and descending behind the tree line.”
The plane was just over half a mile from the runway shortly before 3 p.m. when it started its turn and “before entering a tightening spiral and impacting the ground,” the agency said.
The aircraft hit the ground about a quarter-mile from the air field.
The songwriter pilot, 57, who also penned Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down,” died in the crash along with his wife, Melody Carole Wilson, 59, and her daughter, 28-year-old Meryl Maxwell Wilson.
According to reports, the three had just celebrated James’ stepdaughter‘s birthday before the crash.
James, a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and former Grammy Winner, also worked with music stars such as Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean and Martina McBride.
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