A small plane crashed among trees in Texas Hill Country, killing all five people onboard, officials said on Friday.

The crash happened in the dark late on Thursday night in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles south-west of the state capital, Austin, the Hays county judge, Ruben Becerra, said in a post on Facebook.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the Cessna 421C crashed around 11.25pm with a pilot and four passengers on board.

“I just heard a loud crash. I felt everything vibrate,” Stacey Rohr, who lives nearby, told local channel KEYE-TV. “Everything was up in flames. It was crazy.”

Cecil Keith said he heard what sounded like an engine backfiring – “pow, pow, pow” – when the plane flew over his house moments before the crash.

“Something was definitely wrong,” he told the TV station.

The plane took off from Amarillo, in north-west Texas, about two hours earlier and was headed to New Braunfels national airport, near Austin, according to the flight history. It crashed not far from its intended destination. Aerial images show the remains of the aircraft destroyed in a wooded area.

Becerra said he would not release the names of the victims until family had been notified.

He said a second aircraft traveling in the area landed safely at the airport in New Braunfels, about 30 miles north-east of San Antonio.

One pilot said he and the Cessna pilot were flying there together, according to air traffic control audio.

“I haven’t heard anything from him,” the pilot says on the recording.

A controller responds: “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 both tourist destinations in the Texas Hill Country, drawing hikers attracted to the woody rolling hills and others for tubing on rivers in the area.

EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — State Rep. Vince Perez raised concerns on Thursday about how local voters could be affected after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed the Texas redistricting map to remain for the 2026 elections.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that had blocked Texas from using its redrawn congressional map. The Supreme Court’s decision allows the redistricting plan to remain in place for the 2026 elections.

A three-judge federal panel had previously blocked the new map from being used in November, finding the plaintiffs were likely to prove the state had engaged in racial gerrymandering.

While some Republicans across the country praised the Supreme Court’s ruling, Democrats denounced it, saying it threatens the foundation of the Voting Rights Act.

During a press conference in El Paso on Thursday, Perez said the decision could have consequences for Texans who have been involved in redistricting fights.

“This is very concerning for all of us who have been fighting the redistricting battle right here in Texas,” Perez said.

He added, “The ruling opens the door to unleash more redistricting across the entire state.”

While Monday’s decision will allow the redistricting map to remain for the 2026 elections, questions remain about future elections in Texas and across the country as the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a Louisiana voting map, finding that lawmakers redrew the map in an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, in a ruling that weakens the reach of a key Voting Rights Act provision.

The justices ruled 6-3 that Louisiana’s newly redrawn congressional map relied “too heavily on race.” The map had created a second majority-Black district in the state.

Voting rights organizations have challenged the redistricting maps, citing arguments that it violates the Voting Rights Act.

“With the new maps, there are a series of other lawsuits that are pending that essentially continue some of the same claims that applied earlier, in particular that it violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in putting racial minority groups, Latinos and African Americans, in a position where they are less likely to be able to exercise the ability to choose candidates of their preferred choice,” said Kareem Crayton, vice president of the Brennan Center’s Washington, D.C. office.

WATCH THE FULL PRESS CONFERENCE:

Texas lawmaker warns Supreme Court redistricting ruling could affect local voters (Credit: KFOX14/CBS4)

RECOMMENDED: Supreme Court allows Texas’ redrawn congressional map to stand for 2026 elections

Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.