On Wednesday, investigators searched through the debris of a business jet that crashed on a Texas highway, causing the death of one person aboard. Pilots had reported mechanical problems and requested an emergency landing just before the crash. The incident occurred in Laredo, near the Mexican border, prompting bystanders to leave their cars and help rescue passengers and crew from the burning aircraft.
Footage from the scene captured individuals attempting to break the cockpit glass with a sledgehammer and using makeshift levers to open the door. Local officials reported that a firefighter entered the smoke-filled jet to rescue a remaining passenger after others were safely removed.
Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño expressed condolences, stating, “While the loss of life is deeply regrettable, it is nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event.” The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash, which remains unknown.
Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. disclosed that reconstruction efforts at the crash site were ongoing. Police withheld the identity of the deceased due to a request from the family. The plane’s occupants included two pilots and three teenagers.
The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet, operated by NetJets, had departed from San José del Cabo, Mexico, bound for Austin, Texas. NetJets, a company associated with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is cooperating with authorities.
The crash occurred around 10 p.m. Tuesday on Loop 20 highway, a few minutes after the pilots radioed for an emergency landing. They reported “low fuel and a power outage,” according to Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez. “They had mechanical issues and they lost communication with the tower,” Sanchez added.
Dashcam video on social media showed the plane careening down the highway, knocking down a light post before stopping near the airport. The impact also hit a car, injuring a motorist who was hospitalized but stable.
Footage from the crash showed the plane on its side with the tail separated from the fuselage. An esthetician, Zayra Garza, described the scene as surreal, recording video while her husband rushed to assist. She observed people attempting to break the cockpit glass and noted that the plane’s door eventually opened, allowing three teens and someone who seemed to be a pilot to escape.
A firefighter entered to help evacuate an unconscious individual amidst growing smoke. Officers who assisted soon needed treatment for smoke inhalation.
Garza expressed fear over the potential for explosion due to the visible fire. “What was worrying me was the fire,” she said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”
This accident marked the third significant aviation incident within three days. A B-52 crash at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday resulted in eight fatalities. On Sunday, 12 people died in Missouri in a skydiving flight crash.
Golden reported from Seattle; Collins from Hartford, Connecticut; and Bynum from Savannah, Georgia. Additional reporting by AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina.