The pilot of a plane that crashed in northeast Wyoming in July, killing seven people, declared an emergency and loss of the autopilot shortly before the incident that claimed the lives of three members of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame quartet The Nelons.

The preliminary report released this week by the National Transportation Safety Board states the plane had taken off from an airport in Nebraska on July 26, with plans to stop in Billings, Montana, when the aircraft went down about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of Recluse, Wyoming.

During the last part of the flight, the pilot declared an emergency to the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center and reported the loss of autopilot, prompting the controller to ask him where he would like to land, the report states. The controller did not receive an initial response, but the pilot later said he was “trying to get control of the airplane,” the report states.