A business jet with six people on board crashed on a highway in Laredo, Texas, catching fire and killing one. Drivers and rescuers used sledgehammers to smash the cockpit window and free survivors.
A business jet with six people on board crashed on a highway in Laredo , Texas, and caught fire Tuesday night, authorities said, killing one person and causing chaos as people left their vehicles to frantically try to smash the cockpit window and free those inside.
Drivers who came upon the burning plane, which was nearly sheared in half and tipped on its side, captured dramatic rescue scenes on video or rushed toward the aircraft on foot to help. Two people came running with a sledgehammer and shovel, which they used to strike the cockpit glass and try propping open the plane's door.
The crash occurred on Loop 20 highway near the Texas-Mexico border shortly after 10 p.m., according to Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. It was unclear if the person who died was on the plane or on the ground. Dashcam footage posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop not far from the Laredo International Airport.
Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash, described the scene as part of a movie, saying I was in shock. No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The plane was identified as a Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet, according to FlightAware, an aviation tracking and data company.
It departed from Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico at 6:19 p.m. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez told local TV station KGNS that the plane experienced a mechanical failure, without providing further details. Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier, with the tail ripped from the fuselage and lying mostly intact on a lower-level road beneath where the rescue was taking place.
Garza began shooting video as she approached the scene and stopped her vehicle across from the crippled jet, which was on fire. She saw someone inside the plane trying to break the cockpit window to escape. Soon, people got out of their vehicles to try to smash the window from the outside as the fire on the fuselage continued to burn. Garzas husband jumped out of their vehicle to help, and then she saw the door of the plane open.
Three people who looked to be teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another member of the crew tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious. As smoke billowed from the plane, a firefighter used a small ladder to climb into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger, while others shot water out of a hose at the wreckage.
Rescuers could be heard calling for a rope as others used rods to hold up the plane door. Several times, officers helping to prop open the door darted away from the plane and doubled over in coughing fits because of the intense smoke. Garza expressed her concern about the fire, worrying that the plane could have exploded at any time.
The crash occurred just days after a separate incident involving a NetJets plane, which crashed during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing all eight people aboard. NetJets, owned by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and allowing people to buy part ownership in private jets, confirmed that Tuesday's crash involved one of its aircraft and stated it was working with authorities.
The Associated Press reported this story, emphasizing the dramatic rescue efforts and the ongoing investigation into the cause of the crash in Laredo, a city about 140 miles southwest of San Antonio
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