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 they used to strike the cockpit glass and try propping open the plane's door.
The plane crashed on the Loop 20 highway near the Texas-Mexico border shortly after 10 p.m., said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. Laredo is some 140 miles southwest of San Antonio.
Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez told CBS News in a statement that the airport got an alert at 9:58 p.m. local time saying a Cessna Citation was experiencing mechanical issues and was low on fuel.
He said it lost communication with the tower and crash-landed a few minutes later, a few miles from the airport.
One of those on the plane was pronounced dead at the scene, Sanchez said, and the other five were taken to local hospitals and were reported to be in stable condition.
The plane was heading for Austin, Texas, he said.
The National Transportation Safety board said in a statement that it "is aware of the plane crash and is currently gathering information."
Dashcam footage posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop. It came to a rest not far from the Laredo International Airport.
"It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock," said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.
No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier. The tail was ripped from the fuselage and laying mostly intact on a lower-level road beneath where the rescue was taking place.
Garza began shooting video as she approached the scene and then stopped her vehicle across from the crippled jet, which was on fire.
People attempt to pull passengers out of a plane after it crashed on a highway in Laredo, Texas on the night of June 16, 2026..
Zayra Garza / AP
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.
Garza's husband jumped out of their vehicle to help and Garza then saw the door of the plane open. She said 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 can be heard calling for a rope as others use rods to hold up the plane door.
Several times, officers helping prop open the door dart away from the plane and double over in coughing fits because of the intense smoke.
"What was worrying me was the fire," she said. "I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time."
This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 bomber crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.
NetJets said in a statement that the crash involved one of its aircraft and it is working with authorities.
"Our immediate concern is for the well-being of our Crewmembers, our passengers, and their families during this time. We are activating our crisis response and family support teams to support those affected and their loved ones, and we are deploying a team of experts to the site of the accident," the company said.
NetJets is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and allows people to buy part ownership in private jets.
CBS News' TJ Swigart contributed to this story.
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