Heroic Volunteers Race to Save Passengers in Texas Crash

LAREDO, Texas — When a business jet crashed on a dark Texas highway late Tuesday night, ordinary motorists became unlikely first responders, grabbing a sledgehammer, a shovel, and fire extinguishers to rescue trapped passengers before flames could consume the wreckage. The dramatic scene unfolded on Loop 20 in Laredo, near the Mexican border, where a Cessna Citation Latitude operated by NetJets went down after its pilots reported mechanical problems and requested an emergency landing.

One person — Joshua Baer, 50, a prominent Austin tech entrepreneur — was killed in the crash. But two pilots, three teenage passengers, and a truck driver struck by the plane all survived, thanks in large part to the swift actions of bystanders and police officers who rushed toward danger as smoke billowed from the broken fuselage.

A Desperate Rescue on the Highway

Ivan Franco, a 23-year-old tow truck driver from Laredo, was driving home when he saw what he initially thought was a car accident. As he got closer, he realized a plane had crashed — broken in half, its fuselage resting on its side, fire beginning to rise. Franco grabbed a sledgehammer and three fire extinguishers from his company’s rescue kit and ran toward the wreckage.

“At that moment, you don’t think much about what to do, because I knew the plane could explode since it was on fire,” Franco told The Associated Press. “My idea was to try to break the windows because the pilots hadn’t come out yet.”

Other motorists joined the effort, using a shovel and tools from their vehicles to try to smash the cockpit windows. But the windows, designed to withstand bird strikes at cruising speed and extreme pressure differences at high altitude, proved nearly impenetrable. Retired airline pilot John Cox explained that cockpit windows are “basically bulletproof,” and the rescuers could only manage to spiderweb the glass with small cracks.

Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving co-workers home, recorded video of the scene. “It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” Garza said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.” Her video captured the aircraft’s door popping open slightly from inside as a voice cried for help, with rescuers straining to lift the door as three teenagers darted out, followed by the two pilots.

Police and Firefighters Join the Fight

Police officers arrived quickly and worked alongside the civilian rescuers. As smoke grew thicker, officers tried to reach the final person still inside — Joshua Baer — but were forced back, doubled over coughing. Firefighters with oxygen masks eventually entered the smoke-filled cabin and extracted Baer. Five police officers were treated for smoke inhalation and later released from the hospital.

Firefighters also rescued a dog from the plane that was suffering from smoke inhalation. The animal was turned over to animal control and was expected to survive, according to Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department.

Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño praised the response, calling it “nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event.” Laredo Police Chief Mike Rodriguez commended both his officers and the Good Samaritans, saying he asked his staff to track down all the civilians who helped.

The Victim: A Titan of Austin’s Tech Scene

Joshua Baer, the sole fatality, was the founder and CEO of Capital Factory, an Austin-based venture capital firm that helped seed the city’s transformation into a major technology hub. Known as an “Austinpreneur,” Baer moved to Austin in 1996 after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and founded Capital Factory in 2009. His LinkedIn profile read: “I help people quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs.”

“Whether you’re in technology or not, there’s a hole in the heart of Austin today,” Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, told AP News. Baer was described by his business partner Bryan Chambers as a “true super connector.” He received a key to the city from the Austin mayor in 2023 and was an entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Texas. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Investigation Underway

The Cessna Citation Latitude departed San José del Cabo, Mexico, at approximately 6:19 p.m. Tuesday, bound for Austin. Around 10 p.m., pilots reported mechanical problems and requested an emergency landing at Laredo International Airport, mentioning “low fuel and a power outage” to air traffic control, according to Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez. The plane then lost communication with the tower.

The jet has a range of approximately 3,000 miles — roughly three times the distance of the planned flight to Austin — raising questions about a possible fuel leak, according to aviation safety expert Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Transportation Department.

Former NTSB investigator Alan Diehl noted that because both pilots survived, investigators should be able to determine the cause relatively quickly. Jeff Guzzetti, another former FAA and NTSB investigator, suggested the plane may have lost power to both engines and attempted to glide to the airport. “I think they just ran out of altitude and airspeed toward the end there,” Guzzetti told AP News.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash. NetJets, founded in 1964 and owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, had never experienced a fatal crash in its 62-year history before this incident.

A Troubling Cluster of Aviation Accidents

The Laredo crash was the third significant aviation accident in as many days in the United States. On Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing crashed in Butler, Missouri. On Monday, a B-52 bomber crashed during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing all eight aboard.

What’s Next

As investigators continue to examine the wreckage, the story of the Laredo rescue has resonated widely, with an outpouring of support on social media for the civilians who risked their lives to help strangers. The city of Laredo is working to identify and formally recognize all the Good Samaritans who responded. The NTSB’s findings will be closely watched by the aviation industry, particularly given NetJets’ previously unblemished safety record and the unanswered questions about what caused the mechanical failure that brought the jet down.