Prolific veteran songwriter Brett James, known for country hits like “Jesus Take the Wheel,” has died.

The “I Hold On” songwriter was killed in a plane crash in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon.

James was one of three passengers on a single-engine Cirrus SR22T aircraft that took off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville. The plane crashed in an open field near Iotla Valley Elementary School in Franklin, NC, according to Nashville’s WZTV.

He was 57.

All three people on board the plane were killed. The identities of the other two victims remain unknown.

No students or staff at the school near Macon County Airport were injured in the crash. The 2016 SR22T aircraft was registered to James, listed under his legal name, Brett Cornelius, from Brentwood, Tennessee, according to flight re

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