Texas investigators probe NetJets jet crash on Laredo highway

Mechanical trouble aboard a NetJets business jet turned a nighttime approach to Laredo International Airport into a highway fire scene when the aircraft came down on Loop 20 near the Texas-Mexico border and caught fire. People in passing cars ran toward the wreckage, helping police and firefighters try to reach survivors before smoke and flames spread through the fuselage.

The Cessna 680A Citation Latitude had departed San José del Cabo, Mexico, for Austin, Texas, with six people on board, including two pilots and four passengers. Police said the crew reported mechanical problems and was trying to divert for an emergency landing at Laredo International Airport when the jet struck at least one vehicle on the highway and crashed around 10 p.m. on June 16. One person on the ground was injured and later reported in stable condition.

Laredo officials said the crash did not become a larger disaster only because civilians and first responders moved so quickly. Newly circulated video and photos showed bystanders using a sledgehammer and makeshift levers to help pry open the burning aircraft while police and firefighters worked alongside them. One firefighter entered the smoke-filled cabin to remove the remaining occupant after others had escaped, and Mayor Victor Treviño said it was remarkable the crash did not turn into a mass-casualty event. Police also said they were trying to identify and thank the civilians who rushed in.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on scene, and investigators had not determined a cause. The crash site, near the airport approach area and close to the international border, added to the complexity of the response and raised immediate questions about how quickly a private flight can be diverted when pilots report both power issues and low fuel.

The dead included Joshua Baer, the Austin entrepreneur who co-founded Capital Factory in 2009. The company said it remained fully operational after his death. Baer had become a central figure in Texas’s startup community, helping build an accelerator and venture platform that long played an outsized role in early-stage investing across the state.