CHEYENNE, Wyo.– The pilot of a plane that crashed in northeastern Wyoming in July, killing seven people, declared a state of emergency and lost autopilot shortly before the incident that claimed the lives of three Gospel Music Association Hall members of Fame quartet The Nelons.
The preliminary report released this week by the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane had taken off from an airport in Nebraska on July 26, with plans to stop in Billings, Montana, when the plane was about 12 miles northeast of the airport crashed. Hermit, Wyoming.
During the final leg of the flight, the pilot declared an emergency at the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center and reported the loss of autopilot, prompting the controller to ask him where he would like 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 was lost, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert for the plane, which later crashed in a remote area, according to the report.
One witness near the crash site reported hearing a “loud whining noise” before impact, while another saw the aircraft “above him in a ‘barrel roll’ maneuver and heard the aircraft’s engine ‘roaring loudly’ until they heard the plane hit the grounds. report states.
A final report on the incident, investigating possible causes, is expected later.
The Nelons’ co-founder Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband, Jason Clark, and their daughter Amber Nelon Kistler were killed in the crash, along with Nelon Kistler’s husband, Nathan Kistler, family friend Melodi Hodges, and Larry and Melissa Haynie .
The Nelons planned to participate in the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska, Gaither Management Group said in a statement at the time, identifying Larry Haynie as the pilot.
The Nelons were inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2016 and were winners of 10 GMA Dove Awards, including multiple Song of the Year and Album of the Year awards.
