1 killed when small plane crashes on Texas highway. People leave vehicles to try to help

1 killed when small plane crashes on Texas highway. People leave vehicles to try to help 0 seconds of 1 minute, 21 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Spain king offers pope lift on royal plane after papal flight grounded 00:57 00:00 01:21 01:21 More Videos 00:57 Spain king offers pope lift on royal plane after papal flight grounded 00:40 Pope Leo makes flight home from Tenerife aboard Spanish king's jet after plane problem delay 00:59 AP Top Stories June 17 01:17 Agriculture Sec. 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(Zayra Garza via AP) 4 of 4 | People attempt to pull passengers out of a plane after it crashed on a highway Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Laredo, Texas. (Zayra Garza via AP) By Hallie Golden Updated 5:23 PM MESZ, June 17, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit 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 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. He said one person on the plane died in the crash. A person in a car struck by the plane was taken to a hospital in stable condition. 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. Uganda court charges lawyer for jailed Ugandan opposition leader with concealing treason 2 MIN READ Tropical Storm Arthur, the first of the Atlantic season, targets Gulf Coast with heavy rain 1 MIN READ Ancient teeth from Siberia rewrite the plague’s timeline, dating back to over 5,500 years ago 2 MIN READ No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The plane, a Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet, departed Tuesday evening from San José del Cabo in Mexico and was bound for Austin, Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez said Wednesday that a pilot on the jet radioed the airport reporting mechanical problems and asking to land. He said the pilot “mentioned low fuel and a power outage.” “They had mechanical issues and they lost communication with the tower,” Sanchez said, “and that’s when the accident happened.” 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. 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 continues 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 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. NetJets is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and allows people to buy part ownership in private jets.