Austin, Texas, tech leader Joshua Baer, founder of Capital Factory, has been identified as the person killed when a NetJets Cessna Latitude hit a vehicle while crashing on a highway in Laredo, Texas, late Tuesday. The announcement came amid reports the crew had diverted to Laredo on a trip to Austin and had reported being low on fuel. There was a brisk post-crash fire near the front of the plane after the aircraft broke in two but there was nothing to suggest a fuel explosion. The relative lack of fire allowed passersby and first responders to smash windows to get Baer and five survivors out of the plane.
It was reportedly the first fatal crash of NetJets aircraft. The plane was heading to Austin from San José del Cabo, Mexico, when it diverted toward Laredo. The tower controller at the local airport alerted authorities that the plane was on its way with unspecified mechanical issues. The accident happened about 10 p.m. local time. Investigators are not talking about the fuel state of the plane. NetJets has acknowledged the crash but has not commented. The identities of the survivors have not been released.
First.. let’s give thanks that there was an extremem limit of fatalities to the sum of one. Initial pictures gave pause to ponder, how was anyone able to survive the post accident fire and aircraft position. Just want to say first, evidence is near at hand to help the investigators. As previously reported, Netjets utilizes FOQA which records many, as selected by, operators and lessors, parameters as it pertains to aircraft state, systems, and flight path. The Avionics SD cards will also share a wealth of information to help the investigators. With the advancement of technology speculation will, hopefully, be a thing of the past.
Did the crew ever declare nature emergency or reason for diversion?
If such information was known. I’m quite sure Russ would have covered it.