AN entire pickleball team has been killed in a devastating high-speed plane crash as they made their way to a tournament.
The small plane carrying the Amarillo Pickleball Club from Amarillo, Texas, was travelling to a game when its aircraft crash-landed in Wimberley, southwest of Austin around 11pm on Thursday, officials have said.
All five people on board were pronounced dead at the scene, Sgt. Billy Ray from the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
The Amarillo Pickleball Club confirmed that Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, Glen Appling, and Hayden Dillard were all killed in the crash.
“Today, the Club has received terrible news that we all must mourn in the loss of five members of our Amarillo pickleball family,” the club said in a statement.
“Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers.”
The AHS Tennis Booster Club has paid tribute to Amarillo High School graduate and Sandie Tennis alumni Seren whose death has left the club heartbroken.
“She was a constant supporter of Sandie Tennis and someone who poured so much into this program and the players,” it said in a statement on Facebook.
“Seren loved big and her presence, encouragement, and spirit will be deeply missed by so many.”
Officials have said that an initial investigation shows the aircraft “was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact” and burst into flames after hitting the ground.
They added that “there is no indication of a mid-air collision.”
Shocking aerial images from the scene of the crash show the devastation caused by the impact of the crash with the plane reduced to a mangled wreck that’s almost entirely broken up.
Nearby residents reported hearing the crash and “feeling everything vibrate.”
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16304987/plane-crash-kills-entire-pickleball-team-amarillo-club-texas/
