Overview

• Authorities said all three on board were killed and identified the other victims as Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson.
• The single‑engine plane crashed around 3 p.m. near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, and officials reported no injuries at the school.
• Flight data show the aircraft departed Nashville’s John C. Tune Airport, and the Cirrus SR22T was registered to James under his legal name, Brett James Cornelius.
• The FAA released preliminary details as the NTSB leads the ongoing investigation into the cause, which remains unknown.
• James, a 2020 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy winner for co‑writing Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” was widely mourned by industry groups and artists including Dierks Bentley and Jason Aldean.