CHEYENNE, Wyoming. — The pilot of an airplane that crashed in northeastern Wyoming in July, killing seven people, declaring a state of emergency and disabling the autopilot shortly before the incident that killed three members of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame quartet The Nelons.
The preliminary report released this week by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the plane had taken off from an airport in Nebraska on July 26, bound for Billings, Montana, when it crashed about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of Recluse, Wyoming.
During the final leg of the flight, the pilot declared an emergency to the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center and reported the loss of the autopilot, prompting the controller to ask where he wanted to land, the report said. The controller received no initial response, but the pilot later said he was “trying to gain control of the aircraft,” the report said.
After radar and radio contact were lost, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning for the plane. It was later found crashed in a remote area, according to the report.
A witness near the crash site reported hearing a “loud whining sound” before impact, while another saw the plane “hanging overhead in a barrel roll maneuver and heard the plane’s engine “roaring loudly” until he heard the plane impact the terrain,” the report said.
A final report on the incident is expected later, investigating possible causes.
Nelons co-founder Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband Jason Clark and their daughter Amber Nelon Kistler died in the crash, along with Nelon Kistler’s husband Nathan Kistler, family friend Melodi Hodges and Larry and Melissa Haynie.
The Nelons had planned to go on the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska, Gaither Management Group said in a statement at the time that listed Larry Haynie as the pilot.
The Nelons were inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2016 and have won 10 GMA Dove Awards, including multiple awards for Song of the Year and Album of the Year.