{"id":276537,"date":"2026-05-03T00:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T00:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/276537\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T00:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T00:39:12","slug":"five-killed-in-texas-plane-crash-identified-as-amarillo-pickleball-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/276537\/","title":{"rendered":"Five killed in Texas plane crash identified as Amarillo pickleball players"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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The names of the five people who were killed in the Central Texas plane crash<\/a> that was taking a pickleball team to a tournament have been revealed.<\/p>\n

On board the flight<\/a> were four Amarillo Pickleball Club players from Amarillo, Texas, Hayden Dillard, Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, and Stacy Hedrick, along with pilot Justin Appling.<\/p>\n

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A crashed Cessna airplane is seen in a wooded area on Round Rock Road in Wimberley, Texas, Friday, May 1, 2026.\u00a0 (Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman via AP)<\/p>\n

Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he\u2019d played many games with four of the five people who died.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve 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\u2019t. But once they do, they\u2019ll travel for a tournament.”<\/p>\n

SMALL PLANE CRASHES NEAR HICKS AIRFIELD IN TEXAS, REPORTEDLY CAUSING MULTIPLE SEMI-TRUCK FIRES<\/a><\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators are on scene and serving as the lead investigative agencies, DPS said in its Saturday release.<\/p>\n

But the cause of the crash has yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

The plane crashed in Wimberley, a city 40 miles southwest of Austin<\/a>, at 11 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n

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A crashed Cessna airplane is seen in a wooded area on Round Rock Road in Wimberley, Texas, on May 1, 2026. (Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman)<\/p>\n

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, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of San Antonio.<\/p>\n

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“I haven\u2019t heard anything from him,” the pilot of the second plane said, according to air traffic control<\/a> audio.<\/p>\n

A controller responded, “He started to move erratically, and now his track is disappeared from the scope. So, we want to make sure everything\u2019s all right with him.”<\/p>\n

At least one pilot in the area confirmed the troubled plane\u2019s locator emergency device had emitted a distress signal. The controller called 911.<\/p>\n

It was mostly cloudy in the New Braunfels area shortly before the crash, and there was a thunderstorm two hours later, the National Weather<\/a> Service said.<\/p>\n

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A Cessna airplane crashed in a wooded area on Round Rock Road in Wimberley, Texas, on May 1, 2026. (Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman\/AP)<\/p>\n

Wimberley, with a population of about 3,000, and New Braunfels, with a population of about 116,000, are tourist destinations in the Texas Hill Country.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press<\/a> contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Follow Fox News Digital\u2019s\u00a0sports coverage on X<\/a>,\u00a0and subscribe to\u00a0the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.<\/p>\n