5 killed in Texas plane crash were heading to pickleball tournament, club says
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA/Gray News) - The small plane that crashed in Texas Hill Country, killing all five people on board, was on its way to a pickleball tournament, according to the Amarillo Pickleball Club.
The crash took place about 11:05 p.m. Thursday in the Wimberley area, about 40 miles southwest of Austin, the Texas Department of Safety said.
EN ESPAÑOL | Cinco personas mueren al estrellarse una avioneta en Texas
“The plane did catch fire. That would indicate some pretty severe damage to the plane,” Sgt. Billy Ray told reporters.
The plane, identified as a Cessna 421C, had five people on board: one pilot and four passengers. Ray said all five died at the scene.
The Amarillo Pickleball Club identified those on board as Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Glen Appling, and Hayden Dillard.
“Today, the Club has received terrible news that we all must mourn in the loss of five members of our Amarillo pickleball family. Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers,” the club said in a Facebook post.
According to the club, the crew was on their way to a pickleball tournament near Austin. According to the plane’s flight history, it had left Amarillo two hours before the crash and was headed to the New Braunfels National Airport.
A second aircraft traveling in the area landed safely at the airport in New Braunfels.
One pilot heard in an air traffic control audio recording said he and the pilot of the plane that crashed were flying together.
“I haven’t heard anything from him,” the pilot said on the recording.
A controller responded in the recording that the Cessna pilot had “started to move erratically.”
“Now his track has disappeared from the scope,” the controller said. “So we want to make sure everything’s all right with him.”
It was reported that the plane’s locator emergency device had released a distress signal, and the controller called 911.
It was mostly cloudy in New Braunfels at the time of the crash, according to the National Weather Service. There were also thunderstorms in the area two hours after the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and will lead the investigation into the crash.
Copyright 2026 KFDA via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.