Joshua Baer, the founder and chief executive of Capital Factory, a company in Austin, Texas, that supports tech start-ups, was killed on Tuesday night when a private plane he was in crashed on a highway in Laredo, Texas, officials said.<\/p>\n
The jet, a Cessna Citation, was flying to Austin from Los Cabos, Mexico, when it reported major mechanical issues and low fuel to Laredo International Airport just before 10 p.m. local time, said Gilberto Sanchez, the airport\u2019s director.<\/p>\n
The plane then lost contact with the tower and crash-landed on Texas State Highway Loop 20, Mr. Sanchez said in an email.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh was a fearless leader, a brilliant partner and a dear friend to so many of us,\u201d Bryan Chambers, president of Capital Factory, which helps finance and nurture new enterprises in fields like space exploration, energy and defense, said in a statement announcing the death.<\/p>\n
Video from the scene showed the wreckage of the plane, with the nose section lying sideways on the highway. Flames and thick smoke were emerging from a section of the plane as police officers and others opened the door after a struggle. One person was trying to smash open the cockpit windshield.<\/p>\n
Four people were helped out of the burning wreckage and appeared to be walking on their own, the footage showed.<\/p>\n
Mr. Baer was the only one who died in the plane crash. The five survivors were taken to local hospitals, said Jose Baeza, an investigator at the Laredo Police Department. Mr. Sanchez, the airport director, said the survivors were reported to be in stable condition.<\/p>\n
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said in a social media post<\/a> that Mr. Baer was \u201cone of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America.\u201d<\/p>\n NetJets, a private plane company, said in a statement early Wednesday that it was operating the plane. NetJets has the world\u2019s largest private jet fleet, according to its website<\/a>, and offers fractional ownership<\/a> of aircraft to its customers.<\/p>\n The company, which is owned by Warren Buffett\u2019s Berkshire Hathaway<\/a>, said it was working with law enforcement agencies to confirm more details and would not comment further until investigators released their findings. It said it would not speculate on the cause of the accident.<\/p>\n The jet is a Cessna Citation Latitude that was manufactured in 2016, according to the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s registry. The Latitude models in the NetJets fleet can typically seat seven passengers, according to the company<\/a>.<\/p>\n Data from the aircraft compiled by the tracking website Flightradar24 indicated<\/a> that the jet crashed around two miles southwest of Laredo International Airport.<\/p>\n The crash had forced the closure of the highway, a regional transportation artery. It was expected to remain shut to traffic on Wednesday, Mr. Baeza said. The plane struck a vehicle on the highway when it crashed, injuring one person, he added.<\/p>\n