ATLANTA — Just over a month after a fatal plane crash killed seven people, including three members of Georgia-based gospel group The Nelons, a report from the National Transportation Safety Board is sharing details about what happened.
According to the NTSB report, the fatal crash in Wyoming killed pilot Larry Haynie, a Georgia Department of Corrections official, and his wife Melissa, as well as Jason and Kelly Nelon Clark, Amber and Nathan Kistler and their assistant, Melodi Hodges.
Gaither Management Group, who managed the gospel singing group, announced the tragic crash and released the identities of the victims the day after the crash in a statement online.
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Now, some of the conditions during the flight are coming into clearer focus.
The NTSB report says that after the plane left Nebraska on its way to Billings Logan International Airport in Montana, the plane reached a flight altitude of 26,000 feet.
Around 3 p.m. EST/1 p.m. MT on July 26, the plane rose higher before turning and lowering, then climbing again.
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NTSB said the plane’s data shows that during the last part of the flight, the plane started to malfunction.
“During the last portion of the flight, the pilot reported to the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center controller the loss of the autopilot and declared an emergency,” the report says. “The controller queried the pilot on where he would like to land, however, received no initial response. The pilot then responded that he was trying to get control of the airplane to which the controller advised the pilot to let them know if he required additional assistance.”
The report said that the Air Traffic Controller reminded Haynie of the instrument flight rules altitude and current altimeter, but there was no further response.
Soon after the loss of radio and radar contact, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an Alert Notice for the plane, which was found by local law enforcement in “remote terrain about 12 miles northeast of Recluse, Wyo.”
A witness who was near the accident site told NTSB they’d heard a loud whining noise, that diminished, then increased just before they saw smoke coming from the crash location.
Another witness said they’d seen the plane in a barrel roll and heard the engine’s roar before hearing it hit the ground, then saw smoke.
At the crash site, examination by NTSB showed the plane had hit the ground with an initial impact of a 10-foot long, 41-foot wide and six-foot deep spot, where most of the wreckage was found embedded in the ground.
In the space around the plane’s wreckage, investigators found a large burnt area, and small parts of the plane were scattered about 300 feet around it.
Channel 2 Action News reported the day after the crash that firefighters from Campbell County in Wyoming, responded to the area after flames spread across a 40-acre area. Parts of the wing and other debris from the crash were found almost a mile away, though NTSB said all of the plane’s major components were at the accident site and debris path.
The members of the Nelons who died in the crash were laid to rest and a celebration of life was held Aug. 6.
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