Pickleball team plane crashes in Texas, killing everyone on board

Plane crash kills five en route to Texas pickleball tournament

A Cessna airplane carrying four members of the Amarillo Pickleball Club and a pilot crashed Thursday night in Wimberley, Texas, killing everyone on board. The plane went down at 11 p.m. in a wooded area on Round Rock Road, about 40 miles southwest of Austin. Local police Sgt. Billy Ray said the pilot and four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.

The victims were traveling to a tournament when the crash occurred. Authorities have not released their names. Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he had played many games with four of those killed and described them as excellent players who traveled frequently for weekend tournaments.

A second plane from Amarillo bound for the same event landed safely at the airport in New Braunfels, about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio. Air traffic control audio indicated the troubled aircraft moved erratically before disappearing from radar, prompting a distress signal from its locator device and a 911 call. The National Weather Service reported mostly cloudy conditions in the area shortly before the crash, followed by a thunderstorm two hours later.

Federal authorities are leading the investigation into the cause.