A close-knit community of pickleball enthusiasts is grieving the loss of five club members who perished when their small aircraft went down in Texas Hill Country.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials confirmed Saturday that Justin Appling, Hayden Dillard, Brooke Skypala, Stacy Hedrick and Seren Wilson lost their lives when their Cessna 421C crashed Thursday evening. Appling was serving as the pilot for the flight.
The plane had taken off from Amarillo and was bound for New Braunfels National Airport when it went down in Wimberley, located approximately 40 miles southwest of Austin, according to state safety officials.
According to the Amarillo Pickleball Club’s social media announcement, all five victims were club members traveling to compete in a pickleball tournament in New Braunfels.
Both Dillard and Appling, who was known by the nickname Glen, operated a manufactured home dealership in Amarillo. The company announced Friday morning it would remain closed through the weekend.
Sarah Lister, who knew Dillard and Appling through tournament play, remembered them as authentic individuals. She recalled how Appling constantly brought humor to their group, while Dillard excelled as both a businesswoman and mother.
According to Lister, Dillard leaves behind two daughters, including one preparing to enter college. She noted that Dillard and Appling had been longtime mixed doubles partners, while Skypala served as Dillard’s women’s doubles teammate.
“The pickleball world is super, super small, even though it’s huge at the same time,” Lister explained. “And when one of us has a tragedy like this, it’s like it’s the whole community that gets hit.”
Club member Leroy Clifford, who had flown separately to the tournament, viewed all five as family members despite having met Wilson only recently. The group had competed together in Pro Pickleball Association-sanctioned events across the nation, from Dallas to Las Vegas. Their bond formed through high-level competition, though they maintained a lighthearted approach to the sport.
“One thing I can say about this group is this group, you wanted to be around this group. They were fun, carefree, not uptight, just relaxed, loved to joke with each other, make fun of each other,” Clifford shared. “You couldn’t ask for better friends, honestly.”
Clifford played most frequently with Skypala, whom he characterized as sharp-minded and naturally athletic.
“She was very witty, super sweet and very funny,” Clifford remembered.
Skypala, a married mother, had recently achieved a professional goal she’d pursued for ten years. She announced on Facebook last month that she had begun accepting clients as a counselor. With a master’s degree in education from West Texas A&M University, Skypala specialized in helping clients dealing with “anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, and life transitions,” according to her social media post.
During the previous summer, Skypala had helped organize a pickleball camp for children from the Amarillo Children’s Home nonprofit organization.
Clifford described Hedrick as someone who embraced laughter, maintained an optimistic attitude, and “had a big heart.” Her aggressive playing style earned her the nickname “Rippy” from Appling, which other players adopted.
“She was a very good tennis player. In pickleball, you have to be able to do drop shots,” Clifford explained. “We gave her that nickname because all she did was rip. All she did was smash the ball or forehand it really hard.”
Wilson, the youngest of the group, had distinguished herself as a talented tennis player. She captured the University Interscholastic League team tennis state championship in 2022, according to the tennis booster club at Amarillo High School, her alma mater.
A Wilson family member declined to speak when contacted by phone Saturday.
The pickleball club wrote on Facebook that “Seren loved big and her presence, encouragement, and spirit will be deeply missed by so many.”
Federal investigators are now examining the circumstances that led to the crash.
Audio recordings reveal that another pilot in the vicinity confirmed the aircraft’s emergency locator device had activated, prompting an air traffic controller to contact emergency services.
Weather conditions included mostly cloudy skies in the New Braunfels area before the crash, with thunderstorms developing two hours afterward, the National Weather Service reported.
The Cranky Pickle facility in New Braunfels, located about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, canceled Friday’s tournament events following the tragedy, according to head professional Martin Robertson.
“We’re very heavy-hearted, heartbroken from this,” Robertson said. “Everybody knows everybody.”
Clifford said the Amarillo club is now concentrating on supporting those closest to the five victims and working to “lift these families up in prayer.”
“It’s going to be a long road ahead. But there’s a lot of love and support from everyone that knew these people,” Clifford concluded.
