From the NTSB’s preliminary report on the death of Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter Brett James – famous for “Jesus Take The Wheel” among other hits – and two other occupants when his single-engine Cirrus SR22T plane crashed in Macon County, North Carolina last month:

“On September 18, 2025, at 1456 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus SR22T, N218VB, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Franklin, North Carolina. The private pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Preliminary air traffic control information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated that the pilot was on an instrument flight rules flight from John C Tune Airport (JWN), Nashville, Tennessee to Macon County Airport (1A5) Franklin, North Carolina. As the pilot approached 1A5, he requested a visual approach to runway 07 from air traffic control. The controller approved the request, and at 1448 the pilot reported the airport in sight. The controller then approved a frequency change to the common traffic advisory frequency. Shortly after, the pilot transmitted (while still tuned to the controller’s radio frequency) that he was at 6,800 ft and intended to perform a 360° turn to land on runway 07. The controller then advised the pilot that he was still on the frequency; there were no further transmissions received from the pilot. Review of preliminary ADS-B data showed that shortly after, the airplane began a descending left turn from an altitude of about 6,300 ft mean sea level. It continued through a 360° left turn before it began to approach runway 7 at an altitude of about 3,300 ft (the airport elevation of 1A5 was 2,033 ft). The ADS-B data ended when the airplane was about 0.5 nautical miles from the runway threshold.”

“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,” the safety geeks wrote in their findings on Jesus not helping.