Who is Logan James Stokesdale NC? Pilot Commits Suicide by Plane

Logan James of Stokesdale, NC, was a 23-year-old American pilot who died after crashing a stolen plane, allegedly in a suicide attempt.

Reports emerged late Thursday that a 23-year-old had died after stealing a plane from an Addison flight school and crashing it in Fannin County.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the plane, a Cessna 172, was stolen from ATP Flight School in Addison on Wednesday night.

The pilot, believed to be Logan James Stokesdale NC, then crashed it in an open field nine miles northeast of Telephone, Texas, near the Red River.

Logan James pilot was pronounced dead on the scene by authorities.

Whilst investigations into the crash are ongoing, some online theories allege he purposefully crashed the plane to commit suicide.

In this article, we take a look at what we know of Logan James Stokesdale NC and then examine the claims of suicide by plane.

Let’s dive right in!

Who was Logan James Stokesdale NC?

Logan James Stokesdale NC was a young American pilot who died after crashing a plane stolen from the ATP Flight School in Fannin County, Texas.

According to our research, Logan Timothy James was born in 2000, possibly to Mark Timothy James, 63 and Kim Storey James, 64, in Stokesdale, North Carolina.

The 23-year-old was issued a first-class medical certificate in May and a private pilot certificate with an instrument rating issued in December, according to the FAA pilot database.

Logan James Stokesdale NC last listed address according to the North Carolina resident database was in Meadow Springs Pl, Stokesdale.

Logan James ethnicity is a white man and he is registered to vote in the 6th Congressional District in Guilford County in Stokesdale, NC, with his party affiliation being Republican.

James registered to vote on September 16th 2017 and also has a driving license.

The 23-year-old jumped to public notoriety in January 2024 after he stole and crashed a plane, leading to his death.

James stole a single-engine Cessna 172 from the ATP Flight School at Addison Airport, flying the plane more than 80 miles northeast toward Paris.

He crashed at about 8:15 p.m. into a field near the Fannin and Lamar county lines, not far from County Road 2180 and Farm-to-Market Road 79 between the towns of Telephone and Direct.

According to NBC Dallas Fort Worth, it’s not clear if Logan radioed for help or declared an emergency before the crash.

In an Air Traffic Control recording, Logan James Stokesdale NC can be heard saying, “I’m not going to listen to y’alls instructions. I’m just heading to East Texas. I’m going to pull the comm 1 circuit breaker and comm 2 circuit break soon as I unkey the mic.”

Addison Airport confirmed to NBC 5 that the aircraft departed the airport at 6:53 p.m. Wednesday.

According to retired Navy Captain and aviation expert Armen Kurdian, part of the investigation will include determining why the plane went down and why James was flying it.

“The accident investigation should hopefully answer a lot of those questions about why he got in there and probably interview anybody that he knew like parents, friends, that sort of thing,” Kurdian said.

“And of course maybe some of the flight instructors at that school assuming he was actually attending that flight school as a student.”

The Texas DPS said the National Transportation Safety Board is now leading the investigation into the crash and is being assisted by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Fannin County Tx Office of Emergency Management released a statement.

“The Fannin County Office of Emergency Management advises at 8:53 PM on 1/24/2024 Fannin County Sheriff’s Office and Office of Emergency Management was contacted by Lamar County Sheriff’s Office of a possible downed aircraft at the Lamar/Fannin County line.

“A multiple agency search was conducted and the aircraft was located in far Northeast Fannin County near the Red River.

“This crash is under investigation of the Federal Aviation Administration. No other information is available at this time,”

Logan James pilot

The stunning story of Logan James Stokesdale NC is still unfolding but flyingmag.com has a stunning story up, alleging he intentionally crashed the plane.

“Authorities in East Texas are investigating what appears to be suicide by airplane the night of January 24,” the site belatedly declares in its lead for the article headlined “Private Pilot Allegedly Commits Suicide by Airplane,”

Referencing the Aviation Safety network, the site revealed the plane with Logan Timothy James as pilot took off from KADS around 7.p.m. CST.

The aircraft’s ADS-B track showed that it then headed east, turned north over Sulphur Springs, Texas, then turned again heading northwest toward Paris, Texas.

The aircraft then entered a steep dive, with the ADS-B showing a descent of 4,736 fpm – impacting the ground in an open field 9 miles northeast of Telephone, Texas, around 8 p.m.

Flyingmag.com also shared a recording of James’ last conversation with Addison tower has gone viral, which fuel the rumors that he commited suicide.

“Addison Tower, Career Track 655 is actually going to depart to the east—uh, I’m climbing up through the clouds and then just gonna head out outside of everything,” Logan James Stokesdale NC said.

“And about right now you’ll probably realize that I’m not gonna listen to y’alls instructions, and I’m heading to East Texas, and I’m Career Track, so, uh, I’m gonna pull the Comm 1 circuit breaker and Comm 2 circuit breaker right as soon as I un-key the mic.”

The tower controller calls Career Track 655, asking “Say again?” But there was no reply.

The audio was shared on Instagram by the ATP Flight school with the caption: “ATP Flight School = “Career Track” callsign Addison, TX (DFW Area)

“Career Track 655 had normal interactions with ADS Ground and Tower as they taxied to the runway. After performing one lap in the pattern and making a touch n go, the pilot made this transmission out of the blue.

“From what we know as of now, this was the pilot’s last transmission on any frequency. 🙏🏻

“Details will be published by authorities in the coming days as well as the NTSB,”

You can listen to the audio below…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PilotEdge (@pilotedgeatc)

Meanwhile, FLYING reports that “authorities stated James left a suicide note at a residence in Dallas,”

Comments on the audio note that Logan James appeared to be in mental distress.

“The stigma of addressing Mental Health in aviation on a systemic level has to change,” one commenter on the ATP Flight School post on Instagram said.

“Mental health is seriously overlooked in the pilot community😢,” another said.

Finally: “Don’t really like ATP. Their policies and practices really invite hazardous mindsets taking on unnecessary risks,”

On X, some users also spoke of the suicide angle.

“Logan James flew out to East Texas where he knew he wouldn’t injure or kill any innocent people. 🥺🥀 My heart is broken for his family.

“Suicide is never the answer. Talk to someone if you’re struggling. People can help you figure things out,” one user wrote.

Logan James flew out to East Texas where he knew he wouldn’t injure or kill any innocent people. 🥺🥀
My heart is broken for his family.

Suicide is never the answer. Talk to someone if you’re struggling. People can help you figure things out. 🤍https://t.co/GpyKfKcnbV
— Black Beth Dutton 🥃 (@Oh_Katie_Babie) January 26, 2024

ATP Flight School Wikipedia

According to Wikipedia, ATP Flight School, where Logan James Stokesdale NC was studying, is the largest flight training company in the United States. The curriculum focuses on airline-oriented pilot programs at locations across the country. ATP is the leading supplier of professionally trained pilots to the nation’s regional airlines.

ATP Flight School was started by a group of airline pilots in 1984 and is headquartered outside of Jacksonville, Florida.

ATP stands for Airline Transport Professionals.

The pilots established the school to provide training to U.S. military pilots who were transitioning to commercial air carrier operations.

The school’s curriculum later expanded to include ab-initio (from the beginning) training, as well as other courses for private, multiengine, instrument, commercial, and CFI ratings.

By June 2009, the company had 25 locations.

Over the next eight years, ATP expanded to 38 locations around the U.S.

In 2014, the school purchased a majority share of Higher Power Aviation (HPA), a flight simulator training center based in Dallas and rebranded it as ATP JETS.

ATP Flight School has 81 (as of April 6, 2023) locations throughout the United States[8] Facilities can be found in Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, and other cities.

RELATED – Logan James Stokesdale NC and Joseph Emerson

A similar case of a pilot’s mental health leading to disastrous consequences such as what happened to Logan James Stokesdale NC involved an Alaska Airline pilot known as Joseph David Emerson.

Joseph David Emerson is an American pilot who rose to notoriety after attempting to shut off the engines of an Alaskan Airlines flight.

Captain Joseph David Emerson joined Alaska Air Group as a Horizon First Officer in August 2001.

In June 2012, Emerson left Horizon to join Virgin America as a pilot.

He became an Alaska Airlines First Officer following Alaska’s acquisition of Virgin America in 2016 and then an Alaska Airlines Captain in 2019.

Joe Emerson rose to public prominence in October 2023 after he allegedly attempted to shut off an Alaska airline plane’s engines mid-flight and presumably crash it.

He was restrained and handed over to Port of Portland police after the plane made a forced landing at Portland.

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