Texas plane crash: Victims were members of same pickleball club

AMARILLO, Texas - The five people killed in Friday's plane crash in Hays County were members of the same pickleball club in Amarillo.

The group was on its way to a tournament when their plane went down near Wimberley.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas plane crash kills 5; plane destroyed by post-impact fire, NTSB says

What they're saying:

Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Justin "Glen" Appling, and Hayden Dillard were killed in the small plane crash on April 30. Appling was the pilot, says Texas DPS.

The Amarillo Pickleball Club posted a tribute to them on social media on May 1:

"Today, the Club has received terrible news that we all must mourn in the loss of five members of our Amarillo pickleball family: Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Glen Appling, and Hayden Dillard. Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers.

All five were killed last night in a private airplane crash near Austin, TX, while en route to a pickleball tournament."

Funeral information

The Amarillo Pickleball Club has also released funeral information for four of the five killed:

• Stacy Hedrick — Wednesday, May 6 at 10 a.m. at Amarillo Fellowship Church
• Hayden Dillard and Glen Appling — Friday, May 8 at 11 a.m. at Hillside Christian Church's main sanctuary
• Brooke Skypala — Friday, May 8 at 3 p.m. at Hillside Christian Church's chapel

No information has been released yet for a funeral or memorial service for Wilson.

What you can do:

The Amarillo Pickleball Club is establishing a benefit fund to support the families of the five killed through Amarillo National Bank.

MealTrain campaigns have also been set up for those who wish to donate money or gift cards as well as provide meals to support the families:

• Meal Train for the Skypala family
• Meal Train for the Hedrick family
• Meal Train for the Appling/Dillard family
• Meal Train for Seren Wilson's family

The Amarillo community is also planning a candlelight vigil to honor those impacted by the crash.

The vigil will happen at the Amarillo Netplex on Saturday, May 9 at 8:30 p.m.

The backstory:

The crash happened at around 11:03 p.m. April 30 in a wooded area in the 200 block of Round Rock Road, near the area of Ledgerock Road and FM 2325, northwest of Wimberley.

The plane, identified as a Cessna 421C, was on its way to New Braunfels from Amarillo.

A preliminary investigation shows the plane was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the crash, but there is no indication of a midair crash. A second plane traveling in the same area landed safely in New Braunfels.

Flight tracking data shows the plane had a normal takeoff, climbing to 17,400 feet, but just before 11 p.m., something went wrong. The data showed the plane suddenly started dropping, plunging more than 5,000 feet per minute. Within minutes, radar contact was lost.

What's next:

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash and will release a report on their findings.