Brett James among 3 killed in Franklin, NC plane crash

Country songwriter Brett James, 57, was piloting a private Cirrus SR22T when the aircraft crashed near Macon County Airport in Franklin, North Carolina, on Sept. 18, killing James, his wife Melody Carole, 59, and her daughter Meryl Maxwell Wilson, 28, officials said. The flight had originated in Nashville and was approaching the airport for landing when the airplane entered a series of maneuvers and then descended into a field west of Iotla Valley Elementary School.

According to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board, James contacted air traffic control about 2:48 p.m. local time and reported he was at 6,800 feet and intended to perform a 360 degree turn to set up a visual approach to the runway. Air traffic control recorded no further transmissions from the pilot. Radar and surveillance video show the airplane descending in a left turn from about 6,300 feet, completing the full turn and then approaching the runway at roughly 3,300 feet before entering a tightening spiral and impacting terrain, the NTSB said.

Multiple witnesses described the airplane rocking side to side and rolling inverted before it went down behind a tree line. Investigators recovered the...