More than two years after a devastating plane crash claimed seven lives, including three members of the Grammy-nominated gospel group The Nelons, investigators have provided an explanation for what led to the tragedy.

The July 26, 2024 crash in Wyoming killed Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband Jason Nelon Clark, and Kelly’s daughter Amber Nelon Kistler. Amber’s husband, Nathan Kistler, and family assistant Melodi Hodges also died, along with pilot Larry Haynie and his wife, Melissa.

The group had been traveling to perform on the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska when their private aircraft went down north of Gillette, Wyoming. The aircraft was identified as a Pilatus PC-12/47E. The crash also sparked a wildland fire that local firefighters worked to contain.

Now, details cited from the National Transportation Safety Board investigation indicate that the disaster resulted from a combination of difficult weather conditions and a critical distraction involving the pilot.

According to the findings, the aircraft encountered an updraft associated with convective weather. During that encounter, the plane’s autopilot system disconnected. The interruption diverted Haynie’s attention, and amid the challenging conditions he ultimately lost control of the aircraft.

The findings provide a clearer picture of the final moments of a flight that left an enormous void in one of gospel music’s best-known families.

At the time of the crash, news of the deaths spread through a statement from Gaither Music. The tragedy was especially devastating because multiple members of the same family, along with people close to them, had been traveling together.

One member of The Nelons, however, was not aboard.

Autumn Nelon Streetman, Kelly’s younger daughter and the fourth member of the group, had traveled separately with her husband, Jamie Streetman. They learned what had happened after arriving in Seattle.

That moment instantly transformed what had been a professional trip into an unimaginable family loss.

Autumn was 29 at the time the later report was published, and she was also preparing to welcome a baby boy when the crash happened. In the immediate aftermath, she thanked people who had reached out with prayers and support for her family as they faced the days ahead.

The tragedy carried another layer of meaning because The Nelons were not simply a performing group assembled for the stage. Their music represented generations of one family.

The group’s history stretched back to 1977, when it was founded by Rex Nelon, Kelly’s father and Autumn’s grandfather. After Rex’s death, Kelly continued that musical legacy, helping carry The Nelons into another generation.

After the crash, that responsibility shifted again.

Months later, Autumn stepped onto the red carpet at the 2025 Grammy Awards under circumstances she never could have expected. The Nelons’ final album, Loving You, had received a nomination for best roots gospel album.

It should have been a celebration shared with her family.

Instead, Autumn attended without the mother, sister and stepfather whose voices and lives had been so closely connected to the group.

She described the experience as bittersweet and spoke about the shock of receiving the call informing her of the losses. She also acknowledged the difficult question she had wrestled with afterward: why she had been left to carry on when so much of her family was suddenly gone.

For someone who described herself as the quiet member of the family, continuing The Nelons’ legacy suddenly became an enormous responsibility.

Still, Autumn made clear that she wanted to honor the people she had lost.

The Grammy nomination offered one powerful reminder that their work had not disappeared with them. The music remained, as did the history built by Rex Nelon and continued by Kelly and the generations that followed.

When the accident occurred in 2024, investigators initially said only that the crash was under investigation. For those affected, the unanswered question of what happened remained alongside the grief.

The later findings cannot change the outcome of that flight. They do, however, offer a more complete understanding of the sequence that investigators believe led to the loss of control: unstable weather, an unexpected autopilot disconnect and a moment of pilot distraction occurring during an already demanding situation.

For Autumn and the families of Nathan Kistler, Melodi Hodges, Larry and Melissa Haynie, the investigation closes one part of a story whose human consequences continue far beyond the crash itself.

The Nelons’ story now carries two intertwined legacies.

One is the tragedy of July 26, 2024, when a journey to another performance ended before the group could reach its destination.

The other is the music left behind — a family tradition begun by Rex Nelon nearly half a century ago, carried forward by Kelly, and now entrusted to a daughter who never expected to inherit that responsibility in such painful circumstances.

As Autumn reflected after the loss, continuing that legacy would be difficult. But she was determined to do it in a way that would honor the family members who were no longer beside her.