Texas Resident Was in Bed, Then 'Felt Everything Vibrate'

A small plane carrying pickleball players crashed among trees in Texas Hill Country, killing all five people aboard, authorities said Friday. The crash happened around 11pm on Thursday in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles southwest of Austin, the Texas Department of Public Safety said, per the AP. "The pilot and four passengers on board were pronounced deceased on scene," Sgt. Billy Ray told reporters. Names of the victims weren't immediately released by authorities, though the Amarillo Pickleball Club in Amarillo, Texas, said they were members who were flying to a tournament.

The plane, a Cessna 421C, took off from Amarillo and was headed to New Braunfels National Airport, according to the flight history. Aerial photos posted online by the Austin American-Statesman showed the aircraft destroyed in a wooded area. Ray said federal authorities were leading the investigation. Stacey Rohr, who lives nearby, said she was in bed when she heard a crash and "felt everything vibrate." "It was so close I felt like it was the back of my place up in flames," said Rohr, who immediately called her landlord.

The players were heading to a pickleball tournament at the Cranky Pickle in New Braunfels, about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, said Martin Robertson, head pro at the venue. He said they canceled the tournament on Friday and plan to say a prayer before they start Saturday and honor the players who died. "We're very heavyhearted, heartbroken from this," he said. "The pickleball community is very tight-knit. Everybody knows everybody." Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he'd played many games with four of the five people who were killed.

"They were excellent players. They were out to win some games," he said. Dyer noted that a second plane was traveling to the event from Amarillo at the same time, which authorities said landed safely at the New Braunfels airport. "I haven't heard anything from him," the pilot of the second plane said, per air traffic control audio. A controller responded: "He started to move erratically and now his track is disappeared from the scope. So we want to make sure everything's all right with him." At least one pilot in the area confirmed the troubled plane's locator emergency device had emitted a distress signal; the controller 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.