Young pilot wrecks stolen plane

Logan James, a 23-yearold from Stokesdale, NC, crashed a plane he allegedly stole on January 24. The incident originated at ATP Flight School at the Addison Airport in Texas.

James was cleared by the school to perform touch-andgo maneuvers in the pattern around the airport. The first pass went off without a hitch. However, after the first landing and takeoff, James made a chilling call to the tower. VasAviation released the audio from the call.

“I’m climbing up through the clouds and then just gonna head outside of everything,” he said. “About right now you’ll probably realize that I’m not gonna listen to y’all’s instructions and I’m just heading to East Texas.”

James then told the airtraffic controller that he was going to stop all communication with them.

“So, I’m going to pull the comm 1 circuit breaker and the comm 2 circuit breaker as soon as I unkey the mic,” he said.

The air-traffic controller attempted to get clarification from James but was unsuccessful.

“Career Track 655, Addison Tower, say again,” the controller said.

The controller attempted to reach James several times overthenext10minutes,was was unable to get a response. Unfortunately, James flew east and then north toward the Texas-Oklahoma border. Then, he crashed in a field nine miles northeast of Telephone, Texas, approximately 80 miles from his original location.

ATP confirmed the crash involved its Cessna 172 and officials confirmed that James was pronounced dead at the scene.

James was a certified pilot as of December 24, 2023, according to a Federal Aviation Administration database. The school said they are cooperating with local and federal authorities and expressed their sympathy for the incident.

“A private pilot certificated ATP student was the only aircraft occupant,” the school said in a DTVT interview. “The accident occurred in a remote area, and there were no injuries to anyone on the ground. Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot’s family, loved ones, friends and colleagues.”

James’ father said in an interview that even though his son grew up in North Carolina, he graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas. He said that James was “a wonderful son, with a gentle and loving spirit.”

According to James’ LinkedIn page, he studied geospatial information science at UTD and had plans of becoming a pilot.

“After I graduate at UTD, I plan to go to flight school and work to earn a spot flying for a legacy carrier, such as Delta, American, or FedEx,” he noted in his profile.

The FAA, National Transportation Safety Board and Addison police are investigating the incident.