5 killed after small plane crashes near Wimberley late Thursday

Five people died in a small plane crash near Wimberley after the aircraft went down late Thursday, Hays County officials said Friday. The Cessna 421C was “traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact,” Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said in a statement. The crash occurred near the 200 block of Round Rock Road in a wooded area on the edge of a neighborhood on the southwest side of town sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.m., officials said. Each of the victims was an adult, Becerra said. Officials have not released the victims' names. The plane's route The plane was traveling from River Falls Airport, a small private field near Amarillo, to New Braunfels National Airport, according to data from the flight tracking site Flightaware.com. The plane is owned by KB Flies LLC, an entity based in Amarillo, according to Federal Aviation Administration registration data. The plane took off from River Falls Airport, which is about 10 miles southeast of Amarillo, at 9:11 p.m. Thursday. It was scheduled to land at New Braunfels National Airport at 11:19 p.m. Heading southwest toward Wimberley, it took a sharp turn to head northwest near Ledgerock Road in unincorporated Hays County, about 5 miles northwest of Wimberley, according to Flightaware.com's tracking data. When it made the turn, it plunged from an altitude of 13,600 feet to about 7,000 feet before it stopped transmitting data, according to Flightaware data. Another plane took off from River Falls Airport headed to New Braunfels National Airport within two minutes of the plane that crashed, according to tracking data from Flightaware.com. That plane, also a Cessna 421, landed safely in New Braunfels, according to Flightaware.com data. That plane is owned by Robert Delorenz of Boca Raton, Fla., according to FAA registration data. It was unclear if the planes were traveling together. Weather conditions during crash According to AccuWeather, no rain was reported in the area at the time of the crash, and wind gusts were below 10 mph. “Conditions were quiet at the time of the crash, but the weather turned wetter later overnight,” said Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. “Rain began around 3 a.m. and has continued on and off through the day, which could create muddy and challenging conditions for investigators and recovery crews.” Wimberley has received nearly an inch of rain since the early-morning hours, Roys said. NTSB investigating cause of plane crash The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the crash. An NTSB investigator is traveling to the accident site. After the wreckage is documented at the crash location, it will be moved to a secure facility for further evaluation, officials said. Neighbors describe 'fireball,' 'earthquake' Ed Galle, who lives near the crash site, told the American-Statesman that he was awake at the time of the crash but did not hear or see anything. He said it wasn’t until Friday morning, when he heard about the crash, that he checked his security cameras. He has one camera pointing parallel to the road and one pointing perpendicular to it, both of which recorded what he described as a flash of light around 11:05 p.m. Thursday, and one captured a “fireball.” A few minutes before that, Galle said he heard a “low-flying prop airplane” go over his house, and the plane’s engine was running. Stacy Rohr, a nearby resident, was in bed when she heard aircraft sounds, then felt what she described as an earthquake. “I was like, 'What in the world is that? ' so I sprang up, came out, and looked over, and it looked like the back of my house was all in flames,” Rohr told the Statesman. Rohr worried her property had caught fire, so she called her landlord around 11:05 p.m. Rohr and the landlord confirmed the back of her property was on fire. She believed her neighbors had already called authorities, as fire trucks arrived at her residence quickly. Rohr did not realize it was a plane crash until Friday morning. Jen Bachman, a volunteer with Mercy Chefs and owner of Wimberley Cafe, arrived at the crash scene Friday afternoon to deliver tacos and coffee to the first responders. “I was wearing my shirt today, hosting at [the] cafe, and somebody called and said, ‘Can you bring the first responders food? ’ Bachman said. Bachman and her husband, Jay, are regular volunteers in the area. They delivered meals during the July 4 floods in Kerrville. What is a Cessna 421C? The Cessna 421, known as the Golden Eagle, is a twin-engine plane manufactured from 1967 to 1985. The C variant was introduced in 1976 and features seating for up to eight, according to the Cessna Flyer Association. The plane’s “wet-wing” fuel system means fuel for each engine is stored in its respective wing. The aircraft typically carries up to 206 gallons of fuel. The cabin is pressurized, so the plane can cruise at up to 30,000 feet. San Antonio Express-News reporter Ricardo Delgado contributed to this report.