Mike Slack on KXAN: Severe Weather and the Wimberley Cessna Crash

On the night of April 30, 2026, a Cessna 421C crashed in a wooded area outside Wimberley, Texas, killing all five people on board. The flight had originated in Amarillo and was bound for New Braunfels when it went down around 11:00 p.m.

Slack Davis founding partner and aviation attorney Mike Slack was interviewed by NBC affiliate KXAN about the accident and the role severe convective weather in the area may have played in the accident. Here Slack, a pilot and former NASA engineer, elaborates further on convective weather and how it affects the safety of flight.

Severe convective weather is characterized by strong upward and downward moving columns of air, turbulence, hail, gusts, heavy rain and lightning. Slack points out that severe convective weather is an extremely hazardous environment for aircraft. Besides loss of aircraft control, a catastrophic structural failure may result from the aerodynamic and inertial loads imposed on the structure by the severe conditions.

Slack addressed several safety concerns with flying in and around convective weather. According to Slack, the hazards of flying in the vicinity of severe convective weather require careful preflight planning and in-flight decision-making. All pilots must be familiar with and adhere to the best practices for dealing with the convective weather.

Slack stated the best way for pilots to avoid the dangers of adverse weather, such as thunderstorms, starts with a thorough preflight plan. If weather conditions between the departure point and the destination pose risks to the safe completion of the flight as planned, the pilot must not attempt the flight until the enroute weather is safe. The pilot must have a plan that allows the flight to be completed safely, and which avoids all enroute dangerous weather conditions. In the event of an unexpected encounter with adverse weather, a pilot must react immediately before the hazardous weather “closes the door” and prevents a safe exit from the situation.

Flying in the vicinity of severe weather at night adds significant complications since the pilot may not be able to see rapidly developing adverse weather in the aircraft’s path and is more reliant on aircraft instruments to see and avoid dangerous weather. Even with the best onboard weather technology available, pilots should use that information to avoid, and not transit, convective weather. The lessons of many fatal encounters with convective weather teach that pilots should remain at least 20-25 miles from the edges of known areas of convective activity at night.

Slack emphasized that the safest way for pilots to deal with adverse weather enroute is to not take off with a plane load of people and fuel and hope that the weather improves. The risks of convective weather and precautions for avoiding it apply to all aircraft from small general aviation aircraft to airliners. Slack stated that severe convective weather is an “equal opportunity killer” for pilots venturing too close.

Slack Davis will continue to monitor the investigation into this tragic accident and provide updates as they occur. Slack Davis has handled aviation cases involving weather-related accidents for over three decades, including matters where convective weather and adverse conditions were factors in the cause.

Mike Slack on KXAN News — May 1, 2026