A passenger plane crashed on Loop 20 in Laredo, Texas, on Tuesday night, leaving one person dead and forcing bystanders and first responders into a desperate rescue as the wreck burned on the highway. The plane was tipped on its side and nearly sheared in half.
That is why the Netjets crash was being searched for today: the scene was not just a wreck, but a highway emergency that shut Loop 20 in both directions and drew a federal response almost immediately. One vehicle traveling southbound was struck, and five first responders were treated for smoke inhalation after working near the fire.
Zayra Garza said the scene looked like part of a movie. She said she was in shock and kept thinking about the fire, adding that she was worried the plane could have exploded at any time. People on the shoulder used a shovel and a sledgehammer to strike the cockpit glass and pry the door open, and several passengers escaped through that opening.
One of the six people aboard died, but the person’s identity had not been released because next of kin had not been officially notified. Jose Baeza said, “Regrettably and tragically,” as the scale of the loss became clear. An NBC News-verified dashcam video showed the plane skidding down the highway and knocking over several street lights before it came to rest.
What caused the crash remained unclear. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was already on site, and other federal agencies were expected to arrive to investigate the circumstances. The closure on Loop 20 also meant commuters were dealing with the aftermath as rescuers and investigators worked the same stretch of road where the plane had torn through moments earlier.
The crash was the third significant aviation accident in as many days, following a B-52 crash on Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California that killed all eight people aboard, and a Sunday crash in Missouri that killed 12 people on a plane on a skydiving outing. For now, the unanswered question is not whether the emergency response was fast enough; it is what sent the plane into the highway in the first place.
