The band members were traveling on Friday to a performance when their plane crashed in Wyoming. Four others on board were killed.
Three members of the award-winning gospel band the Nelons and four other people on board were killed in a plane crash in rural Wyoming on Friday, according to the authorities and representatives for the band.
The plane, an 11-seat Pilatus, crashed at approximately 1 p.m. local time in a remote area north of Gillette in Campbell County, Wyo., the county government said on Facebook.
The three band members, Jason Clark; his wife, Kelly Nelon Clark; and their daughter Amber Kistler were traveling to perform on a cruise that was set to depart on Saturday from Seattle and sail to Alaska, according to a statement from Gaither Management Group, which the band recorded for.
Ms. Kistler’s husband, Nathan, was also killed, as well as the band’s assistant, Melodi Hodges; the pilot, Larry Haynie; and his wife, Melissa.
The Nelons, which were founded in 1977 by Rex Nelon, perform gospel, hymn and folk music. The group’s work drew three Grammy Award nominations, in 1979, 1982 and 1990. The band was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2016. Among other honors, it won Voices of Gospel Music Awards.
The group recorded more than 35 albums, with hit Southern gospel songs about hope and faith that include “We Shall Wear a Robe and Crown,” “Come Morning” and “O For a Thousand Tongues.”
Autumn Nelon Streetman, a fourth member of the band, was already in Seattle with her husband, Jamie. They had flown commercially, according to Mike Roberts, a booking agent for the band. She found out about the crash once she arrived at her hotel.
“Autumn and Jamie will return home for now to Kelly’s brother, Todd Nelon and his wife, Rhonda, to begin the hard tasks that lie ahead,” Gaither Management said on social media.
The band had dozens of tour dates on its schedule this year. Earlier on Friday, band members posted a video from an airport tarmac in Nebraska City, Neb., before departing for their next destination in Montana.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report is expected within 30 days.
A board spokesman said investigators were expected to be at the scene of the crash on Saturday. “The aircraft is in a remote location, and once they gain access, they will begin documenting the scene,” he said.
A wildfire broke out near the crash site, Campbell County officials said. A spokeswoman for the Campbell County Fire Department said that airplanes and heavy equipment were used to contain the fire to about 38 acres on Friday night.
Source: Music - nytimes.com
