Famed Nashville Songwriter Was Piloting Plane During Fatal Crash: Report

Brett James was piloting the plane that crashed, killing him, his wife, and his 28-year-old stepdaughter, a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board revealed.

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On Sept. 18, James’ Cirrus SR22T was traveling from Nashville’s John C. Tune Airport to Macon County Airport in Franklin, North Carolina, when tragedy struck.

James was preparing to land the plane when it entered a tightening spiral and crashed. Ahead of the crash, James told air traffic control that he was at “6,800 ft and intended to perform a 360° turn to land on runway 07.” That was James’ final transmission before the crash, which was caught on video.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane flying at a low altitude near the airport and over a nearby school playground. Those witnesses saw the plane “rocking side-to-side, with its wingtips moving up and down, before rolling inverted and descending behind a tree line.”

Around 3 p.m., the aircraft crashed in a field. The crash occurred a quarter of a mile from the airport where the plane was supposed to land.

The NTSB investigation did not find any signs of engine failure. However, the plane will undergo further examination.

Country Stars Speak Out After Brett James’ Death

James had a decades-long career in country music. The songwriter penned tunes for Billy Ray Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Tim McGraw, and more. He won a Grammy for co-writing Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in 2006.

Following his death, Underwood spoke out in an Instagram post, calling the tragedy “unfathomable.”

“Brett’s passing is leaving a hole in all of us that I fear won’t ever go away,” she wrote in part. “It will forever be a reminder that this life is but a moment…we have to make the most of each day we’re given here on earth. Each day is a gift.”

Dierks Bentley, who wrote “I Hold On” with James, also penned a tribute to the “total legend.”

“I brought a couple of roughy sketched verse ideas of ‘I Hold On’ to Brett after my dad died and he just did his thing. The chorus is all him,” Bentley wrote on Instagram. “When I sing that song live, I’m always thinking of my dad, but I also think about that day we wrote it.”

“He just got it, just lit into it. It was one of the first times we wrote and I decided to drop the most meaningful and necessary idea of a song I had on him, because I felt like God was telling me to do so,” he continued. “Our friendship and that song changed my life.”

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