{"id":2106481,"date":"2025-10-21T19:46:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2106481"},"modified":"2025-10-21T19:46:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:46:46","slug":"country-music-hitmaker-brett-james-final-radio-transmission-before-fatal-plane-crash-revealed-in-new-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/country-music-hitmaker-brett-james-final-radio-transmission-before-fatal-plane-crash-revealed-in-new-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Country music hitmaker Brett James&#8217; final radio transmission before fatal plane crash revealed in new report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">New details have emerged surrounding the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/country-songwriter-brett-james-wife-stepdaughter-named-additional-victims-fatal-plane-crash\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:tragic plane crash;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">tragic plane crash<\/a> that killed country music songwriter Brett James, the man behind Carrie Underwood&#8217;s hit &#8220;Jesus, Take the Wheel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to a new report released by The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and obtained by <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/new-details-revealed-plane-crash-that-killed-country-star-brett-james-11832661\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:People magazine;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">People magazine<\/a>, James departed from John C. Tune Airport (JCA) in Nashville, heading for Macon County Airport (MCA) in Franklin, North Carolina, before the fatal crash on Sept. 18. There were three passengers total, including James, his wife Melody Carole, 59, and her daughter Meryl Wilson, 28. There were no survivors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Per the report, at around 2:48 p.m. local time, James approached MCA to land, reporting that he was at 6,800 feet and &#8220;intended to perform a 360\u00b0 turn to land&#8221; on the runway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/brett-james-jesus-take-wheel-songwriter-dies-north-carolina-plane-crash\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Brett James, \u2018Jesus, Take The Wheel\u2019 Songwriter, Dies In North Carolina Plane Crash;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong><u>Brett James, \u2018Jesus, Take The Wheel\u2019 Songwriter, Dies In North Carolina Plane Crash<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Brett James\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/poPDx59jfxHE15XnchakPA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/fox_news_text_979\/02816505a257ef279c383d73bf47e707\"\/><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Brett James, the country music songwriter who was best known for writing Carrie Underwood&#8217;s iconic &#8220;Jesus, Take the Wheel,&#8221; died in a tragic plane crash on Sept. 18.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Air traffic control received no further transmissions from James after that, according to the report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The plane reportedly began &#8220;a descending left turn from 6,300 ft&#8221; and made a full turn before approaching the runway at 3,300 feet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS\/mvaj7wvj\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Read On The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong><u>Read On The Fox News App<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Surveillance video showed the airplane flying over the runway before initiating a descending left turn. The airplane continued descending in the left turn before entering a tightening spiral and impacting the ground,&#8221; the NTSB said in the report. The plane was &#8220;rocking from side-to-side&#8221; and eventually began &#8220;rolling inverted and descending behind a tree line,&#8221; the report stated, per People.<\/p>\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Brett James holding a guitar\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/8uZiigdX6QwIDeNVV6KX.w--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/fox_news_text_979\/7350432b24c7063732b5fd1777d5b711\"\/><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The Grammy-winning songwriter &#8220;intended to perform a 360\u00b0 turn to land&#8221; on the runway before the fatal crash, according to a new report released by The National Transportation Safety Board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong><u>Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">No signs of engine failure were found in NTSB&#8217;s investigation. The aircraft was recovered and is undergoing further examination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A representative for the NTSB did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital&#8217;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Just months before his untimely death, James shared a heartfelt moment with his loved ones. On June 16, he was all smiles as he posted a family photo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Such an amazing Father\u2019s Day!!&#8221; James captioned the Instagram post.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DK-lXLPS_6B\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:App Users Click Here To View Post;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong>App Users Click Here To View Post<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Several days before his post, the country songwriter shared a selfie of himself and his wife Melody on the beach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;So much fun with my love in the Bahamas,&#8221; he captioned the photo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The plane crash occurred just days after James\u2019 stepdaughter, Meryl, celebrated her 28th birthday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">James\u2019 illustrious career spanned decades, and he became one of the most successful and beloved songwriters in Nashville.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He worked on more than 500 songs recorded by artists like <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/faith-hill\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Faith Hill;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><u>Faith Hill<\/u><\/a>, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Meghan Trainor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2020, James was inducted into the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/entertainment\/genres\/country\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><i>Fox News Digital&#8217;s Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Original article source: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/country-music-hitmaker-brett-james-final-radio-transmission-before-fatal-plane-crash-revealed-new-report\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Country music hitmaker Brett James' final radio transmission before fatal plane crash revealed in new report;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Country music hitmaker Brett James&#8217; final radio transmission before fatal plane crash revealed in new report<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New details have emerged surrounding the tragic plane crash that killed country music songwriter Brett James, the man behind Carrie Underwood&#8217;s hit &#8220;Jesus, Take the Wheel.&#8221; According to a new report released by The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and obtained by People magazine, James departed from John C. Tune Airport (JCA) in Nashville, heading [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2106482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[375297,22844,22846,398657,398658,398659,375411,398656,375301,375747],"class_list":["post-2106481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-brett-james","tag-carrie-underwood","tag-country-music","tag-fatal-crash","tag-macon-county-airport","tag-meryl-wilson","tag-national-transportation-safety-board","tag-ntsb","tag-plane-crash","tag-tragic-plane-crash"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Country-music-hitmaker-Brett-James-final-radio-transmission-before-fatal.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2106481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2106481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2106481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2106483,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2106481\/revisions\/2106483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2106482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2106481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2106481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2106481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}