NTSB: Brett James, Family Die in Crash

Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, 57, his wife Melody Carole and his stepdaughter Meryl Wilson died Sept. 18 when the Cirrus SR22T he was piloting crashed near Macon County Airport in Franklin, North Carolina. James had departed John C. Tune Airport in Nashville earlier that day and crashed just over two hours after takeoff. A preliminary NTSB report and surveillance video show James requested a visual approach and announced he would perform a 360-degree left turn to land; air traffic control received no further transmissions after that. Surveillance video and multiple witnesses show the airplane descending during the turn, rocking side-to-side, entering a tightening spiral, rolling inverted and impacting an open field near Iotla Valley Elementary School; the wreckage came to rest upright and no one on the ground was injured. Investigators recovered the airplane, reported no initial signs of engine failure and said the wreckage will undergo further examination as the probe continues.