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A plane was flying over Texas on Thursday carrying a pickleball team to a tournament, before tragically crashing, killing all five people on board.
Authorities did not immediately release the names of the victims, although the Amarillo Pickleball Club in Amarillo, Texas, said they were members flying to a tournament. The plane crashed in Wimberley, a city 40 miles southwest of Austin, at 11 p.m. Thursday.
“The pilot and four passengers on board were pronounced deceased at the scene,” local police Sergeant Billy Ray told reporters.
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Ray said federal authorities were leading the investigation.
Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he had played many games with four of the five people who died.
“I gave them medals. They were great players. They wanted to win some games,” Dyer said. “Every weekend there are dozens of tournaments. Some people get the virus, some don’t. But once they do, they travel to attend a tournament.”
A small plane crashes near Hicks Airfield in Texas, reportedly causing multiple semi-trailer fires.
Dyer said a second plane was traveling to the event from Amarillo at the same time. Authorities said he landed safely at the New Braunfels airport, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of San Antonio.
“I haven’t heard from him,” the pilot of the second plane said, according to air traffic control audio.
A handler responded: “He started moving erratically and now his trail has disappeared from range. So we want to make sure everything is okay with him.”
At least one pilot in the area confirmed that the troubled plane’s emergency locator device had issued a distress signal. The driver called 911.
It was mostly cloudy in the New Braunfels area shortly before the crash and there was a thunderstorm two hours later, the National Weather Service said.
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Wimberley, with a population of approximately 3,000, and New Braunfels, with a population of approximately 116,000, are tourist destinations in the Texas Hill Country.
