A 23-year-old man died on January 24th after he crashed a stolen plane near the Texas-Oklahoma border. According to official reports, it all started when the man stole a plane from an airport in Addison, Texas.
He stole a Cessna 172 from the ATP Flight School at Addison Airport, about 15 miles north of downtown Dallas. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified him as Logan Timothy James of Stokesdale, North Carolina. After stealing the plane, James flew for more than 80 miles northeast toward Paris, Texas, before crashing near the state borders.
The plane took off from the airport at 6:53 p.m. on that fateful Wednesday and crashed at about 8:26 p.m. Therefore, he was in the air for almost two hours before he crashed unexpectedly. The incident happened in an open field 9 miles northeast of Telephone, Texas.
Sadly, James lost his life in the crash. He was the only person on board. As he crashed in an open field, there were no other casualties involved, and the damage was not extensive.
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It was easy for James to steal the plane as he was a private pilot and an ATP-certified flight school student. James seemingly turned off the plane’s communications systems in an air traffic control recording after stating his plans to travel to East Texas in the aircraft.
“About right now, you’ll probably realize that I’m not going to listen to y’all’s instructions, and I’m just heading to East Texas,” he said, according to ATC recordings obtained by NBC News. “I’m going to pull the comm 1 circuit breaker and the comm 2 circuit breaker right here soon, as soon as I unkey the mic.”
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Since he pulled all forms of communication, it is unclear if James tried to radio for help while he lost control of the aircraft. It is also unsure if he declared an emergency as he went down. Moreover, the major question on people’s minds is, “Why did he steal the plane?” What was his motive? Why was he going to East Texas?
As of today, nobody knows the answer to these questions. The DPS and the National Transportation Safety Board are actively investigating this case. The Federal Aviation Administration is also assisting in this case.
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“NTSB is investigating the crash of a Cessna 172S airplane near Fannin County, Texas,” an NTSB rep told Complex on Friday. “We are currently gathering information.” Hopefully, there will be a clearer understanding of the incident, and his loved ones can have some closure soon.
James’ story is not the first of its kind. In 2022, authorities arrested a man for stealing a small aircraft from an airport in Mississippi and threatening to crash it into a Walmart in the Tupelo area.
They kept him in custody and tried to understand why the man, Cory Patterson, did that. However, he died by suspected suicide several months later before they could figure it out.
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