A small plane that broke apart midair and crashed in Texas while carrying passengers to a pickleball tournament, killing all five people on board, went down due to frozen instruments, an investigation revealed.
The doomed Cessna 421C departed Amarillo just after 9pm last month bound for New Braunfels National Airport before crashing into trees in Wimberley, about 40 miles southwest of Austin.
Four members of the Amarillo Pickleball Club - Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick, and Hayden Dillard - were among the dead. The pilot, Justin Appling, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
In a preliminary federal investigation released Friday, officials said freezing instruments were the cause of the aircraft breaking apart midair, the Associated Press reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that the pilot raised alarm during the flight over problems with the aircraft's anti-icing system, which protects onboard instruments.
Appling was ultimately cleared to descend to 4,000 feet, but told air traffic controllers an airspeed instrument had 'iced up,' prompting him to switch to backup gauges.
According to the new report, he told controllers he wanted to descend to a lower altitude in an attempt to 'warm back up.'
Only 15 minutes before the crash, the private plane was flying at altitudes where temperatures were reportedly hovering just above freezing.
A private plane that broke apart midair and crashed in Texas while carrying passengers to a pickleball tournament last month went down due to frozen instruments, an investigation revealed
All four players of the Amarillo Pickleball Club were pronounced dead at the scene, including young tennis and pickleball player Seren Wilson
The pilot’s last radio transmission with air traffic controllers was at 11.59pm, about a minute before the crash, before the aircraft made a series of descending left and right turns.
The plane then plummeted to the ground, with aerial photos published by the Austin American-Statesman showing the aircraft destroyed among trees in a wooded area.
It has since been revealed that investigators found wreckage scattered across a 1.25-mile area, with the debris pattern described as consistent with an 'inflight breakup,' according to the outlet.
It was mostly cloudy shortly before the crash, with a thunderstorm arriving two hours later, the National Weather Service said.
A second plane traveling at the same time as the group landed safely in New Braunfels National Airport.
'I haven't heard anything from him,' the pilot of the second plane said, according to Air Traffic Control audio.
A controller responded: '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.'
At least one pilot in the area confirmed the plane’s emergency locator device had emitted a distress signal, as the controller immediately called 911.
Brooke Skypala was another one of the athletes killed in the crash on April 30
Brooke Skypala pictured with her partner prior to her tragic plane crash death
The pilot, Glenn Appling (left), and athlete Hayden Dillard (right), were also killed. They had won tournaments together in the past
Friday's federal report comes just weeks after an April 30 crash killed four athletes traveling to a pickleball tournament.
In a statement, the Amarillo Pickleball Club in Texas said: 'Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers.'
'Although many were friends to players, the loss is most horrible to their close family. And those families may need our help in these times,' the club added.
A preliminary investigation initially revealed the aircraft 'was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact' and 'there is no indication of a mid-air collision.'
Stacey Rohr, who lives nearby, said she was in bed when she heard a loud crash and 'felt everything vibrate.'
'It was so close I felt like it was the back of my place up in flames,' Rohr said, adding that she immediately called her landlord.
'Just very sad about the whole thing and feeling very grateful that it wasn't any closer because it was literally right here where it landed,' she told KVUE News. 'There's homes and stuff. So yeah, just grateful.'
Neighbor Ivars Vilums, who lives about a mile from the crash site, told the outlet that he heard the aircraft around 10.30pm and described unsettling noises.
Appling was cleared to descend to 4,000 feet, but told air traffic controllers an airspeed instrument had 'iced up,' prompting him to switch to backup gauges
The NTSB said the pilot raised alarm during the flight over problems with the aircraft's anti-icing system, which protects onboard instruments
'It was making strange, very low RPMs, and revving, and revving, and revving,' Vilums said. 'But it flew on by.'
When he woke up, he said he discovered plane debris scattered across his front yard, including an eight-foot-long piece of the aircraft’s tail.
'It made me think that it just crashed, but no - it was falling apart in the air,' he told the outlet.
The players were traveling to a pickleball tournament at the Cranky Pickle in New Braunfels, about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, according to head pro Martin Robertson.
He announced the tournament had been canceled, adding that organizers would begin the following day’s play with a prayer in honor of the players who died.
'We're very heavy hearted, heartbroken from this,' he said. 'The pickleball community is very tight-knit. Everybody knows everybody.'
Amarillo Pickleball Club President Dan Dyer shared that he had played many games with four of the five people who were killed.
'I've 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't,' he added. 'But once they do, they'll travel for a tournament.'