Remembering The Nelons After Wyoming Plane Crash

Last Friday a report came to us that a Pilatus PC-12/47E turboprop airplane had crashed in northeast Wyoming, killing all seven onboard.

Not much was known at the time.

A later new release let us know who was on board.

They were that Gospel Hall of Fame group The Nelons — co-founder Kelly Nelon Clark and husband Jason Clark, and daughter Amber Nelon Kistler., Nathan Kistler, Melodi Hodges along with Larry and Melissa Haynie.

A the time this article, is being written, Monday 07/29/24, there is nothing about the crash posted on the group's website.

The last post on their Facebook page,  Monday 07/29/24, was a video that showed them in front of the airplane after they made a stop in Nebraska City. Once again, nothing has been said about the crash.

We assume those around them have been dealing with too much to say anything publicly.

The Nelons were started by founding member Rex Nelon as The Rex Nelon Singers in 1977. The group was a spin-off of the family group The Lefevres.

You can watch more of their videos on The Nelons Official YouTube page.

They became known as The Rex Nelon Singers in 1976 because the Lefevre family members had left the group.

The group's first number-one song was "Come Morning" on the Singing News Chart, and was awarded the Southern Gospel Song of the Decade for the 1980s.

The Nealons have a long string of hits in the gospel community.

1999: Rex Nelon - Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame Inductee
2013: People Choice Silver Telly Award – "Excuse Me Are You Jesus"
2016: Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductee

The crash may have been due to an autopilot problem.

That pilot had reported an equipment malfunction consistent with problems that the model of the aircraft.

Information reported by Flight Aware shows the plane wildly oscillating up and down at 300 mph. That might have caused the plane to break apart.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said that preliminary information shows the plane went down after reporting an “autopilot issue during flight.”

The plane crashed about 1 p.m. near the Montana border in northern Campbell County.