Austin tech entrepreneur Joshua Baer has been named as the man killed in the Laredo, Texas, plane crash, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Baer was the founder of Capital Factory, an Austin-based tech startup. He was given a key to the city in 2023, the AP reported.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he received the Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty.
A small jet plane carrying six people crashed into a vehicle on a highway in Laredo on Tuesday night, leaving Baer, authorities said.
Five first responders were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and the passengers of the vehicle were hospitalized for minor injuries.
Plane crashes on Texas-Mexico border, killing one
It is unclear at this time if the other passengers of the aircraft were relatives of Baer's.
Onlookers left their cars to help at the scene in an effort to smash the cockpit windshield and free the passengers, with reports of two people wielding a sledgehammer and a shovel. The aircraft crashed just after 10 p.m., prompting complete road closures near the Texas-Mexico border.
In a video shared by Laredo police, firefighters can be seen putting out the flames and managing the wreckage as the plane lay split over a highway divider. The plane experienced technical issues while returning from San José del Cabo, Mexico, and attempted an emergency landing at a local airport.
The pilot who contacted the Laredo Airport mentioned low fuel and a power outage, said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the city's police department.
The plane was a Cessna 680A business jet operated by NetJets, according to the Texas Tribune.