Seven people died July 26, 2024, when a Pilatus PC-12 crashed in a remote field north of Gillette, Wyoming. Among the dead were gospel singers Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband Jason Clark, and their daughter Amber Nelon Kistler—core members of the award-winning family group The Nelons—along with Amber’s husband Nathan Kistler, family assistant Melodi Hodges, pilot Larry Haynie, and his wife Melissa.
The travelers were bound for Seattle to board the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska, where The Nelons were scheduled to perform. Autumn Nelon Streetman, Kelly’s younger daughter and the group’s remaining member, had flown commercially with her husband and was not on the flight. In a statement she thanked supporters for their prayers, calling her grief “indescribable.”
The single-engine turboprop went down about 1 p.m. in Campbell County after the pilot reported trouble. Emergency crews found the wreckage consumed by fire; there were no survivors. The Nelons, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2016, had spent decades sharing hymns and hope. Their planned cruise appearance would have continued that ministry. Authorities later cited loss of control after an autopilot disconnect in turbulent weather. The gospel community mourned a family whose music had long pointed others toward faith.
