Pilot declared emergency, loss of autopilot before crash that killed 3 members of famed gospel group

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The pilot of a plane that crashed in northeast Wyoming in July, killing seven people, declared an emergency and loss of the autopilot shortly before the incident that claimed the lives of 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 states the plane had taken off from an airport in Nebraska on July 26, with plans to stop in Billings, Montana, when the aircraft went down about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of Recluse, Wyoming.

During the last part of the flight, the pilot declared an emergency to 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 states. The controller did not receive an initial response, but the pilot later said he was “trying to get control of the airplane,” the report states.

Once radar and radio contact were lost, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert notice for the plane, which was later found 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 plane “overhead in a ‘barrel roll’ maneuver and heard the airplane’s engine ‘roaring loud’ until they heard the airplane impact terrain,” the report states.

A final report on the incident, examining potential causes, is expected later.

The 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 been planning to join the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska, Gaither Management Group said in a statement at the time that identified 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.