New Details Revealed in Plane Crash That Killed Country Star Brett James

New details have emerged about the Sept. 18 plane crash that killed country singer-songwriter Brett James and his wife and stepdaughter.

James was piloting a Cirrus SR22T and had “requested a visual approach” to land on the runway at Macon County Airport (MCA) before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a new report obtained by PEOPLE.

He attempted to make a full turn while landing before losing control of the small aircraft.

He and two passengers had left from John C. Tune Airport (JCA) in Nashville, Tenn., heading for MCA in Franklin, N.C., before the crash.

His wife, Melody Carole, 59, and her daughter, 28-year-old Meryl Wilson, were also on board and did not survive.

Around 2:48 p.m. local time, James approached MCA to land, reporting that he was at 6,800 ft and “intended to perform a 360° turn to land” on the runway, per the report.

Air traffic control received no further transmissions from James after that, the NTSB stated. 

Surveillance cameras caught what happened next: As James’ plane was descending with a left turn, he went into a “tightening spiral” and hit the ground.

Multiple witnesses reported seeing the plane flying at a low altitude near the airport and over a nearby school playground.

The craft was “rocking from side-to-side” and eventually began “rolling inverted and descending behind a tree line,” the NTSB report states.

According to flight records, James’ plane departed from JCA at 12:41 p.m. local time. He crashed just over two hours later in an open field in Franklin, near MCA and west of Iotla Valley Elementary School. 

No signs of engine failure were found in NTSB’s investigation.

The plane was recovered and is undergoing further examination.

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The crash came days after James and his wife and celebrated Wilson’s 28th birthday, according to a post on Carole’s Instagram.

James, who won a Grammy for best country song for co-writing Carrie Underwood’s smash hit “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” is survived by his adult children, whom he shares with ex-wife Sandra Cornelius-Little.