One person has been killed after a business jet crashed onto a highway in Laredo, Texas – with drivers leaving their vehicles and smashing the plane’s windows to free passengers
One person has died in the crash(Image: AP)
A business jet owned by Warren Buffett crashed and burst into flames on a busy Texas highway, with one person killed and drivers rushing to smash the plane‘s windows in a bid to free passengers.
The aircraft, carrying six passengers, slammed into moving cars as it went down on the Loop 20 highway in Laredo at around 10pm local time on Tuesday, police said.
Images showed the small plane flipped on its side with flames tearing through the back and a thick column of smoke emerging after it collided into a barrier on the highway. The tail was ripped from the fuselage.
Two members of the public rushed to the scene and used a sledgehammer and shovel to smash through the cockpit in a bid to prop open the plane’s door.
Fire crews used a small ladder to access the aircraft and rescue the remaining passengers. Others were seen shooting water out of a hose towards the wreckage, while officers nearby doubled over in coughing fits due to the heavy smoke.
It was unclear if the person who died was on the plane or the ground. No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez told KGNS the aircraft was a small private Cessna plane.
According to FlightAware data, the plane departed from Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico at 6:19pm local time.
It then made a controlled descent towards Loredo International Airport before the signal cut out at around 600ft.
It was roughly 2.5 miles short of the runway when the signal was lost at 9.58pm local time, Flightradar24 data shows.
Zayra Garza, an aesthetician who was driving her colleagues home at the time, said she saw someone inside the plane trying to break the cockpit window to escape. Moments later, drivers left their vehicles to try to smash the window from the outside.
Garza’s husband jumped out of their car to help before the door of the plane opened.
Three people who looked to be teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot, Garza said. Another member of the crew tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.
“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” Garza said. “What was worrying me was the fire,” she said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”
NetJets said the crash involved one of its aircraft and it is working with authorities.
The company is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and allows people to buy part ownership in private jets.
Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of approximately $146.5 billion (£108 billion).
According to Forbes Real Time Billionaires, he ranks as the 10th richest person globally.
Buffett, often referred to as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, built his huge fortune as the chairman and long-time CEO of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, and is widely considered one of the most successful investors of all time.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
