The deaths of five people in a small plane crash in Texas Hill Country have shaken a regional pickleball community that says the victims were regular tournament players traveling to compete. Authorities said the crash happened late Thursday, with the pilot and passengers killed when the aircraft came down among trees near Wimberley.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the crash occurred around 11 p.m. Thursday in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Austin. Sgt. Billy Ray told reporters that the pilot and four passengers on board were pronounced deceased on scene.
Authorities did not immediately release the names of the victims. The Amarillo Pickleball Club in Amarillo later said the victims were club members who were flying to a tournament, according to the AP report.
The victims’ flight was based on flight-history information, with the plane described as a Cessna 421C. The aircraft took off from Amarillo and was headed to New Braunfels National Airport, and aerial photos posted online by the Austin American-Statesman showed the plane destroyed in a wooded area.
Ray said federal authorities were leading the investigation. Other details in the report pointed to the broader circumstances around the flight and the moment it began to fail: a controller said the aircraft’s track disappeared from radar after it “started to move erratically,” and the controller called 911.
A nearby resident, Stacey Rohr, said she was in bed when she heard the crash and felt it. Rohr told AP she “felt everything vibrate” and said the impact was so close she thought it was “the back of my place up in flames,” adding that she immediately called her landlord.
At the pickleball venue the players were headed to, organizers said they canceled the tournament scheduled for that day and planned to honor the victims. Martin Robertson, head pro at the Cranky Pickle in New Braunfels, said the players were traveling to the tournament at the venue and that organizers planned to say a prayer before they start Saturday and “honor the players who died.”
Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he had played many games with four of the five people killed. Dyer said they were “excellent players” who were traveling for tournaments that take place across the weekend circuit, and he added that another plane was traveling to the event from Amarillo at the same time and landed safely at New Braunfels.
The AP report also described weather conditions in the region before and after the crash. It said it was mostly cloudy in the New Braunfels area shortly before the crash and that there was a thunderstorm about two hours later, according to the National Weather Service.