NTSB prelim: fatal Franklin plane crash kills Brett James and two others

Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, his wife Melody Carole, 59, and Carole’s daughter Meryl Wilson, 28, were killed Sept. 18 when the Cirrus SR22T James was piloting crashed near Macon County Airport in Franklin, North Carolina, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report released this month. The report says James made a final radio transmission at about 2:48 p.m., stating he was at 6,800 feet and intended to perform a 360-degree turn for a visual approach; air traffic control received no further messages.

Flight and surveillance data reviewed by investigators show the airplane descended and began a left turn, then entered a tightening spiral before impacting an open field roughly a quarter-mile from the runway. Data indicate the aircraft began the maneuver from an altitude near 6,300 feet and approached the runway from about 3,300 feet, with the recorded data cutting off about 0.5 nautical miles from the runway. Multiple witnesses and surveillance cameras captured the airplane flying low near the airport and over a nearby school playground, rocking from side to side and reportedly rolling inverted before descending behind a tree line. The aircraft...