Deadly Texas Crash
NetJets Business Jet Crashes in Laredo, Killing Two; Investigation Underway
A NetJets private jet carrying six people crashed onto a busy highway in Laredo, Texas, on Monday night, killing one person and sending five others to hospitals. The Cessna Citation Latitude slammed into Loop 20 near the Clark Boulevard exit, struck a light post and a moving vehicle, then burst into flames, according to CBS News.
The pilot had reported both mechanical issues and low fuel to Laredo International Airport before communication cut out. The plane went down roughly 2.5 miles short of the runway, CBS News reported. Five police officers were also hospitalized after inhaling smoke while pulling survivors from the wreckage.
Crew Declared Emergency Then Lost Contact at 600 Feet
At 9:58 PM local time, the crew radioed Laredo International Airport to report a mechanical problem and said the plane was low on fuel. One minute later, at roughly 600 feet altitude, contact was lost entirely. Laredo Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez confirmed the aircraft reported mechanical failure before the crash, according to KESQ.
The plane had flown a busy day before going down. Flight records show it made three earlier legs — Denver to Scottsdale, then to Ensenada, then to Los Cabos, Mexico — before departing Los Cabos for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at 6:19 PM, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons. It never arrived.
Bystanders Used Sledgehammers to Break Cockpit Glass
The rescue scene was chaotic and dangerous. Bystanders stopped their cars and grabbed sledgehammers and shovels to smash open the cockpit. Eyewitness Zayra Garza, whose husband joined the effort, said the crash "looked like part of a movie" and recalled thinking the fire "could have just exploded at any time," according to The Mirror.
Aviation experts note that Citation jet windshields are hardened and heat-treated, making them extremely difficult to break without specialized tools. Five Laredo police officers who rushed in before airport firefighting crews could reach the off-airport site were treated for smoke inhalation, according to Click2Houston.
NetJets' First Fatal Accident in Company History
The crash marks the first fatal accident in the history of NetJets' private jet unit, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons. No fractional jet operator operating under FAA rules had suffered a fatal accident since at least 2006. NetJets, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, operates nearly 1,100 aircraft globally and is the world's largest fractional ownership jet company.
NetJets CEO Adam Johnson said in a statement that the company's "immediate concern is for the well-being of our Crewmembers, our passengers, and their families" and confirmed crisis response teams were activated. The company has long marketed itself as the safest name in private aviation. The involved aircraft, tail number N523QS, was a 10-year-old 2016 Cessna Citation Latitude.
NTSB, FAA, and FBI Launch Investigation Into the Crash
Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were dispatched to the crash site. The FBI was also reported on-site, according to KESQ. Investigators will focus on why a modern twin-engine jet was simultaneously reporting mechanical failure and low fuel — a combination experts say is rare and could point to fuel contamination or mismanagement.
Notably, Textron Aviation had issued a mandatory service letter in May 2026 for enhanced landing gear inspections on the Citation Latitude model. If investigators find a broader maintenance problem, the FAA could issue an airworthiness directive affecting hundreds of similar jets. Berkshire Hathaway's service group reported $23 billion in revenue in 2025, with NetJets as a core asset, according to Aviation International News.
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