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Identities of pickleball players killed in plane crash on way to tournament released
The names of the five people who were killed in the Central Texas plane crash that was taking a pickleball team to a tournament have been revealed.
On board the flight were four Amarillo Pickleball Club players from Amarillo, Texas, Hayden Dillard, Seren Wilson, Brooke Skypala, and Stacy Hedrick, along with pilot Justin Appling.
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Dan Dyer, president of the Amarillo Pickleball Club, said he’d played many games with four of the five people who died.
“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. But once they do, they’ll travel for a tournament.”
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators are on scene and serving as the lead investigative agencies, DPS said in its Saturday release.
But the cause of the crash has yet to be determined.
The plane crashed in Wimberley, a city 40 miles southwest of Austin, at 11 p.m. Thursday.
Dyer said a second plane was traveling to the event from Amarillo at the same time. Authorities said it landed safely at the airport in New Braunfels, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of San Antonio.
“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 troubled plane’s locator emergency device had emitted a distress signal. The controller called 911.
It was mostly cloudy in the New Braunfels area shortly before the crash, and there was a thunderstorm two hours later, the National Weather Service said.
Wimberley, with a population of about 3,000, and New Braunfels, with a population of about 116,000, are tourist destinations in the Texas Hill Country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Lightning captain Victor Hedman opens up about mental health absence after first-round playoff exit
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman’s absence in the final stretch of the regular season and during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was to address his mental health, he revealed in a statement Tuesday.
Hedman, who also missed a significant amount of time this season due to injury, addressed the situation in a statement shared by the team.
“I’ve spent most of my life in this game, and nearly all of my career with this organization. Wearing this jersey – and serving as captain – is the greatest responsibility of my professional life,” his statement began.
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“That responsibility doesn’t only apply on the ice. Over the past couple of months, I made the decision to step away and focus on my mental health. It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.
“I’ve always believed that being a leader means doing what’s best for the team. In this case, it also meant doing what was necessary to take care of myself, so I can be the best player, teammate, husband and father I expect to be.”
Hedman expanded on his statement during his exit interview with the media on Tuesday, adding that he feels “way better” and that it was the “right decision” for him.
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“This is something that exists in our game more than people see. If this moment helps make it easier for others to take care of themselves when they need to, that matters,” he said Tuesday. “I’m proud of this team, and I look forward to what’s ahead.”
Hedman, who spent his entire 17-year NHL career with the Lightning, missed a majority of the season with an elbow injury that required surgery in December. He returned in time for the Olympic break, where he played for Sweden, before being sidelined again before the quarterfinal game against Team USA.
After playing in just 33 games this season, Hedman said he was looking forward to returning next year.
Tampa Bay was eliminated from the playoffs after suffering a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 on Sunday. The loss marked the organization’s fourth straight first-round exit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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