A 23-year-old pilot stole a plane from a Dallas-area flight school and then made an ominous call saying he wouldn’t listen to “his instructions” before crashing and dying.
Wednesday, KTVT reported, citing the Texas Department of Public Safety. .
James was cleared to perform touch-and-go maneuvers in the pattern around the airport, but after the first landing and takeoff he made a chilling call.
“I’m climbing through the clouds and then I’ll get out of it all,” he said, according to audio posted by VasAviation.
“Right now they probably realize that I’m not going to listen to their instructions and I’m just going to head to East Texas.”
James calmly tells the air traffic controller that he was going to “deactivate” the microphone and disconnect the communication circuit breakers.
A pilot died after stealing a Cessna 172 and crashing it into a field in rural northeast Texas, authorities said. FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth Authorities identified Logan Timothy James as stealing the Cessna 172 from ATP Flight School in Addison on January 25, 2024. FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
“Career Track 655, Addison Tower, repeat it,” the controller asks, but receives no response after trying several times over the next 10 minutes.
James flew east and then north toward the Texas-Oklahoma border, where he crashed in a field nine miles northeast of Telephone, Texas, about 80 miles from where he took off, authorities said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The ATP confirmed that the accident involved his Cessna 172.
James calmly tells the air traffic controller that he was going to “deactivate” the microphone and disconnect the communication circuit breakers. WFAA
“A certified ATP private pilot student was the sole occupant of the aircraft. The accident occurred in a remote area and there were no injuries on the ground,” the school told KTVT, adding that it was cooperating with local and federal authorities.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot’s family, loved ones, friends and colleagues,” he added.
James’ father told the outlet that his son had grown up in North Carolina and graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas.
The dead pilot’s father called him “a wonderful son.” WFAA
He was “a wonderful son, with a gentle and loving spirit,” said his father, whose name was not identified.
James studied geospatial information science at UTD, according to his LinkedIn page.
“After graduating from UTD, I plan to go to flight school and work toward earning a spot flying for a traditional airline, like Delta, American, or FedEx,” he wrote in his profile.
James earned his private pilot certificate on Dec. 24, according to a Federal Aviation Administration database.
The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Addison police are investigating the incident.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn