Five Killed After Cessna 421C Crash in Wimberley South of Austin

A small plane crash in Texas killed five people late Thursday night in the Wimberley area, south of Austin, according to ABC News and local reporting.

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ABC News said first responders received a call around 11:00 p.m. local time about a plane down in the area of Wimberley, which is roughly 30 miles southwest of Austin, and that fire and EMS crews found a downed Cessna 421C along with the bodies of the five deceased passengers.

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The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation, Hayes County Judge Ruben Becerra said, and the NTSB said in a statement that the Cessna was destroyed in a post-impact fire.

ABC13 Houston and AP both placed the crash around 11 p.m. Thursday in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles southwest of Austin, and said the pilot and four passengers were pronounced deceased on scene.

WOAI added more precise timing and location details, saying the Hays County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it received the initial call reporting the crash at around 11:03 p.m. Thursday and that the crash happened in the 200 block of Round Rock Road in Wimberley.

WOAI also said the FAA classified the aircraft as “destroyed,” and that the cause of the crash remains unknown, according to the FAA.

Across the reports, investigators said preliminary information showed no mid-air collision, and ABC News quoted Becerra saying, “Preliminary information indicates the aircraft was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact.”

Multiple outlets described the aircraft as a Cessna 421C that had taken off from Amarillo and was headed to New Braunfels National Airport when it crashed among trees in Texas Hill Country.

ABC News said preliminary flight data obtained by ABC News found the plane took off from Amarillo, Texas, which is about 420 miles northwest of the crash area, and was in the air for almost two hours before it crashed.

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ABC13 Houston and AP both said the plane took off from Amarillo about two hours earlier and was headed to New Braunfels National Airport, and they described the crash happening around 11 p.m. Thursday in Wimberley.

The Guardian said the FAA said the Cessna 421C crashed around 11.25pm with a pilot and four passengers on board, and it quoted Stacey Rohr saying, “I just heard a loud crash. I felt everything vibrate.”

Local accounts tied the crash to a distress signal and air traffic control audio.

ABC13 Houston said at least one pilot in the area confirmed the troubled plane’s locator emergency device had emitted a distress signal and that the controller called 911.

AP and ABC13 Houston both included the same air traffic control exchange, with a controller saying, “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.”

Witnesses described the crash as sounding like an earthquake and said they initially thought their own homes were in danger.

“5 dead in small plane crash south of Austin, officials say Preliminary reports show no signs of a mid-air collision, investigators said”

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ABC News reported that Stacey Rohr lives in a house close to the crash site and told local reporters, including one from ABC affiliate KVUE, that the crash rattled the neighborhood and that, “It felt like an earthquake.”

WOAI similarly quoted Rohr saying she was in bed when she heard the impact around 11 p.m. and that, “It was like a crash, like a loud crash, but almost like an earthquake, too — a vibrating.”

WOAI also said Rohr initially believed her own home was in danger and quoted her saying, “I thought it was the back of my place on fire,” and that she called her landlord because it looked like it was about to take her place up in flames.

The Guardian quoted Rohr saying, “Everything was up in flames. It was crazy.”

Another nearby resident, Cecil Keith, told KEYE-TV that he heard what sounded like an engine backfiring — “pow, pow, pow” — when the plane flew over his house moments before the crash, and he said, “Something was definitely wrong,” according to ABC13 Houston and the Guardian.

The local reports also described the response as ongoing through the morning, with fire and EMS remaining at the scene throughout the morning, according to WOAI, and with Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra saying a second aircraft traveling nearby landed safely in New Braunfels.

The crash victims were described as pickleball players traveling to a tournament, and the local pickleball community responded with cancellations and memorial plans.

ABC13 Houston said the Amarillo Pickleball Club in Amarillo, Texas, told reporters that the plane was carrying members who were flying to a tournament.

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AP said the Amarillo Pickleball Club identified the victims as members who were flying to a tournament, and it reported that the players were heading to a pickleball tournament at the Cranky Pickle in New Braunfels, about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, according to Martin Robertson, head pro at the venue.

Robertson said they canceled the tournament Friday and plan to say a prayer before they start Saturday and honor the players who died, and he said, “We’re very heavy hearted, heartbroken from this,” and that, “The pickleball community is very tight knit. Everybody knows everybody.”

AP also quoted Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, saying he’d played many games with four of the five people who were killed and that, “I’ve handed them medals. They were excellent players. They were out to win some games,” and that, “Every weekend there are dozens of tournaments.”

WTOC reported that the club said, “Today, the Club has received terrible news that we all must mourn in the loss of five members of our Amarillo pickleball family. Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers,” and it named the five victims as Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Glen Appling, and Hayden Dillard.

The same WTOC report said the plane was on its way to a pickleball tournament near Austin and that the crash took place about 11:05 p.m. Thursday in the Wimberley area, about 40 miles southwest of Austin, according to the Texas Department of Safety.

Separately from the Texas Hill Country crash, CNN en Español, El Mundo, and other outlets reported a Mexican Navy aircraft crash into the waters of Galveston Bay, Texas, on Monday afternoon that killed at least five people and left one missing.

CNN en Español said a 2-year-old boy was among at least five people who died when a Mexican Navy aircraft transporting patients crashed into Galveston Bay, and it said eight people were aboard: four Navy crew members and four civilians, with one person remaining missing.

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CNN en Español quoted the Galveston County Sheriff, Jimmy Fullen, telling KPRC that the plane was carrying burn patients, and it said one person remains missing, while two people were rescued alive though their health status is unknown.

El Mundo reported that the crash left at least five dead and two survivors, and it said one passenger had not been located, with the Secretariat of the Navy stating the aircraft was “carrying out a medical support mission in coordination with the Michou y Mau Foundation.”

Both CNN en Español and El Mundo tied the mission to pediatric burn care and said the aircraft was headed to Shriners Children’s Hospital in Galveston, with El Mundo adding that the organization transports at no cost pediatric patients up to 18 years old with severe burns.

CNN en Español said the Coast Guard received a call about the crash around 3:17 p.m. local time and that officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on scene assisting with the investigation.

El Mundo said the incident occurred amid thick fog over the waters of Galveston Bay as the aircraft approached Scholes International Airport, and it reported that the aircraft’s track was lost around 3 p.m. as it was about to land in Galveston, according to aircraft tracking platforms.