A preliminary federal investigation report found that the small plane that crashed while carrying five people to a baseball tournament near Austin, Texas, last month, broke up in midair.
AUSTIN, TX — The little plane that It crashed While carrying four pickleball players to a tournament near Austin last month, they had problems freezing the tools before they broke in midair, according to a preliminary federal investigative report released Friday.
The Cessna 421C took off from Amarillo on April 30 at 9:10 p.m. and crashed around 11 p.m. in the city of Wimberley, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Austin. Pilot Justin Appling and passengers Hayden Dillard, Brooke Skypala, Stacey Hedrick, and Syren Wilson died.
During the flight, the pilot reported problems with the plane’s anti-icing system that protects on-board instruments, the NTSB report said.
He later reported that the airspeed measuring instrument had “froze” and that he was using backup gauges. He was allowed to descend to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) and told air traffic controllers that he wanted to reach a lower altitude to try to “warm up again.”
During the last 15 minutes before the crash, the plane flew at altitudes where temperatures were just below freezing, according to the report.
The pilot’s last radio transmission with air controllers was made at 10:59 p.m. The plane then made a series of descending left and right turns before crashing to the ground.
Investigators found pieces of the plane over a 1.25-mile (2-kilometer) debris field, a distribution consistent with “the disintegration of the plane,” the report said.
The weather was mostly cloudy in the area shortly before the accident, and there was a thunderstorm two hours later. The National Weather Service said.
A second plane accompanying the group landed safely in New Braunfels.