Death ruled intentional for student pilot who crashed plane from North Texas flight school

Nicole Lopez
·2 min read
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The death of a student pilot who crashed a plane from a North Texas flight school was intentional, according to a Fannin County Justice of the Peace.

Logan Timothy James, 23, died Jan. 24 after telling air traffic control he was headed to East Texas and abruptly cut off communication.

A Fannin County Justice of the Peace told the Star-Telegram that a medical examiner ruled James intended to take his own life and the cause of his death was blunt force trauma.

James departed in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk owned by ATP Flight School from the Addison Airport, north of Dallas, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Once airborne, he advised the air traffic controller he was “going to depart to the east,” according to audio from the flight published by VAS Aviation.

“About right now, you’ll probably realize that I’m not going to listen to y’all’s instructions,” James said in the audio.

He also told the air traffic controller he was going to “unkey” the microphone and pull the Comm 1 and 2 circuit breakers, according to the recording.

“Say again,” the air traffic controller responded.

James didn’t reply, and the controller tried to reestablish communication with him for the next 10 minutes, according to the audio.

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk traveled east and then north toward the Texas-Oklahoma border before crashing in an open field nine miles northeast of Telephone, a community in Fannin County, according to the DPS. The crash site was about 80 miles away from where he took off.

James was the only one on board the plane, the DPS said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration database, James was issued a private pilot certificate on Dec. 24.

ATP Flight School confirmed to KTVT-TV in a statement that the Cessna 172 was from the Addison training facility, but did not respond to questions about whether the plane was stolen and how that was able to happen.

ATP Flight School did not return a request from the Star-Telegram for comment. James’ father told KTVT that the 23-year-old had grown up in North Carolina and graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas.

He was “a wonderful son, with a gentle and loving spirit,” his father said.

James began training at ATP Flight School in June, his father told KTVT.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.