Amarillo Pickleball Club team heading to tournament killed in Texas plane crash after plane leaving 2 hours earlier from Amarillo. Victims identified as Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Glen Appling, and Hayden Dillard.
A small plane carrying pickleball players en route to a tournament crashed in Texas Hill Country, killing all five people aboard, Texas authorities announced Friday.
The twin‑engine Cessna 421C went down around 11 p.m. in the 200 block of Round Rock Road, in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles southwest of Austin, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
‘The pilot and four passengers on board were pronounced deceased on scene,’ Sgt. Billy Ray told reporters.
All Pickleball team killed in Texas plane crash
The Amarillo Pickleball Club identified the fatal team members as Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Glen Appling, and Hayden Dillard. The club says they were en route to a pickleball tournament near Austin.
‘Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers,’ the club said in a statement. ‘Although many were friends to players, the loss is most horrible to their close family. And those families may need our help in these times.’
The plane had departed from Amarillo about two hours earlier and was headed to New Braunfels National Airport when it crashed among trees at a ‘high rate of speed’, officials said.
Respondents to the crash scene came across the wrecked plane engulfed in flames.
‘I just heard a loud crash. I felt everything shake. Everything was engulfed in flames,’ nearby resident Stacey Rohr told local station KVUE.
Team members remembered
At least one pilot in the area confirmed the troubled plane’s locator emergency device had emitted a distress signal according to a local air controller.
Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he’d played many games with four of the five people who were killed.
‘I’ve handed them medals. They were excellent players. They were out to win some games,’ Dyer said. ‘Every weekend there are dozens of tournaments. Some people get the bug; others don’t. But once they do, they’ll travel for a tournament.’
Dyer said a second plane was traveling to the event from Amarillo at the same time. Authorities said it landed safely at the airport in New Braunfels.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the plane crash, which left the aircraft destroyed.
