Once they catch the bug, they'll travel for a tournament
On a Thursday night in the Texas Hill Country, five lives were cut short when a small plane carrying four competitive pickleball players and their pilot disappeared from radar near Wimberley, Texas. They were chasing the thing that had given their weekends meaning — tournaments, travel, the next match — when something went wrong at 11 p.m. over a cloudy, unsettled sky. A companion aircraft landed safely nearby, and investigators from the NTSB and FAA have begun the slow work of understanding what the radar could not explain.
- A small aircraft carrying four Amarillo Pickleball Club members and pilot Justin Appling vanished from radar at 11 p.m. Thursday, moving erratically before its signal disappeared entirely.
- A second pilot from the same group, hearing nothing on the radio, alerted air traffic control — and controllers had already seen the track go dark on their screens.
- At least one nearby pilot reported hearing the emergency locator transmitter activate, the distress beacon that fires on impact, prompting controllers to call 911.
- Weather that night was marginal — mostly cloudy, with a thunderstorm passing through the area roughly two hours after the crash — leaving investigators without a clear answer.
- The NTSB and FAA are now leading the investigation, while the Amarillo Pickleball Club mourns four players its president had personally watched compete, travel, and win.
Four members of the Amarillo Pickleball Club and their pilot were killed Thursday night when their small plane went down near Wimberley, a Hill Country town about 40 miles southwest of Austin. The victims — Hayden Dillard, Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, and pilot Justin Appling — were en route to a weekend tournament, the kind of competition that had become a way of life for serious players willing to cross the state for a match.
Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, knew all four players personally. He had handed them medals and watched them compete. "They were excellent players," he said. "They were out to win some games." A second aircraft carrying other members of the group was flying the same route that night and landed safely in New Braunfels.
The pilot of that second plane noticed the silence first. Monitoring radio traffic, he told air traffic control he hadn't heard anything from the other aircraft. Controllers had already seen the problem — the first plane had begun moving erratically across their radar scope before its signal vanished. At least one pilot in the area reported hearing the emergency locator transmitter, the beacon that activates on impact. Controllers called 911.
Weather conditions that night were marginal, with cloud cover and a thunderstorm passing through roughly two hours after the crash. Whether weather was a factor remains unknown. The NTSB and FAA are leading the investigation, and the work of determining what happened — mechanical failure, weather, pilot error, or some combination — is only beginning.
Four members of the Amarillo Pickleball Club and their pilot were killed Thursday night when their small aircraft went down near Wimberley, a town of about 3,000 people in the Texas Hill Country, roughly 40 miles southwest of Austin. The five victims have been identified as Hayden Dillard, Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, and Stacy Hedrick—all competitive players from Amarillo—along with pilot Justin Appling, who was at the controls.
They were flying to a tournament, part of the relentless circuit of weekend competitions that draws serious players across the region. Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, knew all four of the players who died. He had handed them medals, watched them compete, seen them win. "They were excellent players," he said. "They were out to win some games." For people who catch the pickleball bug, as Dyer put it, the tournaments become a way of life—travel, competition, the pursuit of another win. Once that drive takes hold, people will cross the state for a match.
The crash occurred at 11 p.m. on Thursday. A second aircraft carrying other members of the same group was en route to the same tournament at the same time. That plane landed safely in New Braunfels, about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio. The pilot of the second aircraft, monitoring radio traffic, noticed something wrong. "I haven't heard anything from him," the second pilot said to air traffic control, according to recordings of the exchange.
Air traffic controllers had already detected the problem. The first aircraft had begun moving erratically across their radar scope, and then the signal vanished entirely. "He started to move erratically, and now his track is disappeared from the scope," a controller told the second pilot. "So, we want to make sure everything's all right with him." At least one pilot in the area reported hearing the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter—the distress beacon that activates on impact. Controllers called 911.
Weather conditions in the area that night were marginal. The New Braunfels region was mostly cloudy, and a thunderstorm moved through about two hours after the crash, according to the National Weather Service. Whether weather played a role in the accident remains unknown. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have taken the lead in the investigation, but the cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The wreckage sits in Wimberley, and the work of understanding what happened—mechanical failure, pilot error, weather, some combination—is just beginning.
Citas Notables
They were excellent players. They were out to win some games.— Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club
He started to move erratically, and now his track is disappeared from the scope.— Air traffic control, describing the aircraft's final moments
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What draws people to pickleball tournaments so intensely that they'll fly across the state for them?
Once you catch the bug, it becomes something else entirely. It's not just a game anymore. It's the competition, the travel, the community of people who understand that drive. Dan Dyer called it catching the bug—and once you do, you're traveling every weekend.
Did these four players know each other well?
They were all from the same club in Amarillo, so yes. Dyer had played with them many times. He'd handed them medals. They were part of the same tight circle of competitive players.
What was the moment when people realized something was wrong?
The second pilot noticed the radio silence first. Then air traffic control saw the erratic movement on radar, watched the signal disappear. That's when they knew. The emergency beacon confirmed it.
How common are these small aircraft accidents?
Common enough that there are protocols, investigators standing by. But each one is still a shock—especially when it's people you knew, people heading somewhere ordinary, somewhere they'd been before.
What happens now?
The NTSB and FAA will examine everything—the aircraft, the weather data, the pilot's experience, maintenance records. It could take months to understand what happened. For now, there's just the wreckage and the questions.