Grammy-winning country songwriter died with wife, her daughter in private plane crash

NY Post ^ | September 19, 2025 | Natalie O'Neill

[rexthecat]

Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter Brett James was flying on his private jet with his wife and her 28-year-old daughter, who had just celebrated her birthday, when the plane crashed and killed them, officials said Friday.

[rexthecat]

It looks like musicians still die in plane crashes.

[oldplayer]

Ahm, a Cirrus SR22T is a jet? I think not.

[Red Badger]

Journalists don’t know firearms and we expect them to know aircraft??????...................

[cuban leaf]

I don’t think small single engine planes are really much safer than they ever were. And I suspect the same is true with private pilots.

Now, if they put a big parachute in the tail, I’d revise my thinking.👍

[cuban leaf]

I hate to point out the irony, but he wrote the song, “Jesus take the Wheel”.

[OttawaFreeper]

Yes, and many of us here remember what happened to Thurman Munson.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

He should have stayed home and entertained his fans on a Zoom call.

[4Runner]

Buddy Holly.

Ritchie Valens.

The Big Bopper.

Patsy Cline.

[grobdriver]

Now, if they put a big parachute in the tail, I’d revise my thinking

Actually, the SR22 does come equipped with a chute - but not in the tail.

They have saved many lives.

[daler]

Jim Reeves, Jim Croce, Rick Nelson, Lynrd Skynrd.

[jjotto]

Munson’s was actually a jet. This was just a small single-prop plane with a whole-plane parachute.

[Regulator]

Cirrus aircraft all have a chute that’s deployable.

We’ll find out later if he tried to deploy it or simply had no time.

[aspasia]

John Denver
SRV

But not Vince Lombardi, probably because he wasn’t a musician.

[Gen.Blather]

I looked it up. Its turbocharged. The author most have confused it with “turbine.”

[HIDEK6]

“The plane crashed.”

… all on its own.

[HIDEK6]

… noted guitarist, Payne Stewart.

[DesertRhino]

Has that parachute system, but it’s fatal accident rates are as bad as planes without. Apparently he didn’t deploy it. It’s spin recovery characteristics were bad enough that it could not get certified without the parachute recovery system.

It really is the modern doctor killer. Affordable high performance that amateurs get their hands on.

Probably hard to admit defeat and pull the lever when you get in the soup. Any word on the weather or time of day?

[DesertRhino]

Stupidest song of all time. Spinning on the ice and saying Jesus take the wheel? And it’s near certainty someone, somewhere has done that. And really kinda funny... Imagine being Jesus relaxing without a care, and suddenly *bam* finding himself at the week of a car spinning skidding on the ice with a screaming woman beside you.

Mercy...lol

[RckyRaCoCo]

strange tracking, weather looked OK

[TexasGator]