The Highway That Night: A NetJets Citation Down on Loop 20
It is the call no family is ready for. A loved one boarding a business jet in one city and, hours later, the phone rings and an investigator on the other end says there has been a crash. On the night of June 16, 2026, the airplane was a Cessna Citation operated by NetJets, the fractional-ownership brand of Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. — a Berkshire Hathaway company. The flight declared mechanical issues and low fuel to Laredo International Airport (LRD) tower at 9:58 PM local time. A few minutes later, the aircraft lost communication with the tower. It came down on Loop 20 — the Bob Bullock Loop that circles Laredo in Webb County — a few miles short of the runway. One of the six people on board was pronounced dead at the scene. The other five were extracted by a combination of bystanders who ran toward a burning, nearly sheared-in-half fuselage with a sledgehammer and a shovel, a firefighter who climbed a small ladder into the wreckage, and the police who held the door open while smoke drove them to double over in coughing fits. The flight was bound for Austin.
This page is written for the family of the person who did not come home, and for the five who did — and for the people who love them. We are the lawyers at The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC — Attorney911 — and we handle aviation cases against deep-pocketed operators. We know the federal investigation that has already started, and we know what it does and does not do. We know who is going to call you in the next 24 to 72 hours, and what they are going to ask. We know the evidence that begins to die the moment the tower recording is reused, the moment a bystander deletes a video, the moment NetJets’ routine records rotation purges a maintenance file. We are not here to make promises we cannot keep. We are here to give you the truth about what you are in, in plain English, and to show you exactly what an experienced trial team does with that truth.
If you are reading this at 2 AM between hospital visits, here is the first thing: do not give a recorded statement to anyone who calls you from NetJets or its insurer. Forward the call to us. The preservation work that protects your case can begin today, not after the funeral.
What We Know About the Crash
What is publicly known, as of the morning after: a Cessna Citation operated by NetJets crashed on Loop 20 — a divided state highway that circles Laredo — shortly after 10 PM on June 16, 2026. The aircraft struck a highway light post, was nearly sheared in half, tipped on its side, and caught fire. Six people were on board. One was pronounced dead at the scene. The other five were transported to local hospitals in what authorities described as stable condition. The airport director, Gilberto Sanchez, told media the airport received an alert at 9:58 PM that the aircraft was experiencing mechanical issues and was low on fuel. The aircraft lost communication with the tower and crash-landed a few minutes later, a few miles from the airport.
NetJets confirmed the aircraft was one of its own. In a written statement, the company said: “Our immediate concern is for the well-being of our Crewmembers, our passengers, and their families during this time. We are activating our crisis response and family support teams to support those affected and their loved ones, and we are deploying a team of experts to the site of the accident.” That statement is the first move in a well-rehearsed corporate playbook. The next call you receive from NetJets will not be from a grief counselor. It will be from an adjuster or a corporate counsel asking you to talk. We will get to that in a moment.
The National Transportation Safety Board has taken the lead in the federal investigation, with FAA support. This was the third significant U.S. aviation accident in as many days — a B-52 bomber crashed during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday, killing all eight aboard, and twelve people were killed Sunday in a skydiving-plane crash in Missouri. None of those crashes makes the Laredo case easier. Each one stretches the NTSB’s investigative resources, and each one adds to the public’s sense that something has gone wrong in American aviation. Your case does not depend on a national trend, but the trend is the context in which your lawyer will be negotiating.
The Defendant Map: Who May Be Liable
Aviation cases are not one-defendant cases. The Citation that came down on Loop 20 was the end point of a chain of decisions made by people and companies scattered across the country. Here is who may be on the other side of the courtroom when this case is filed.
NetJets Aviation, Inc. d/b/a Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. NetJets is the brand name; the legal entity is Executive Jet Aviation, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. It is the world’s largest fractional-ownership and private-aviation operator, with a fleet exceeding 750 aircraft. NetJets is vicariously liable for the acts and omissions of its employee pilots acting within the scope of employment under the doctrine of respondeat superior — meaning the company stands behind its pilots’ negligence as a matter of law. It is also directly liable for its own corporate decisions: how it selects pilots, how it trains them, how it supervises them, how it plans fuel, how it decides whether to divert when mechanical issues arise. A jury in a Texas courtroom has held companies liable for exactly these kinds of decisions for decades.
NetJets crewmembers (the PIC and the SIC) The pilot in command and the second in command may be named individually. If the fuel state and the decision to continue an approach with reported mechanical issues and low fuel were pilot decisions, the crew may be directly liable for negligence. Pilots are not shielded by their employer’s status as a deep pocket. If they were negligent, they are defendants, and NetJets’ obligation to indemnify them does not change that.
Cessna Aircraft Company (Textron Aviation) If the NTSB investigation finds a mechanical failure in the airframe, fuel system, avionics, or other component of the Citation, the manufacturer may face strict products-liability and negligence claims. Federal preemption under the Federal Aviation Act does not bar every products claim — the Supreme Court’s framework in Gonzalez v. Chevron bars state-law claims that challenge the design of a type-certified aircraft, but it does not bar claims based on operational defects, manufacturing defects, or failures in components that were not the subject of type certification. That distinction is technical, and it is the reason you need an aviation lawyer who knows where the preemption line actually falls.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Citation aircraft are typically powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada turbofans. If the in-flight emergency involved engine failure, fuel starvation from a defective fuel pump, or a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) malfunction, the engine manufacturer is a potential defendant. The same preemption analysis applies, and the same distinction between design-defect-type-certification claims and operational-defect claims controls.
Textron Aviation (maintenance / repair station) If the aircraft was improperly maintained, if a recent sign-off was wrong, or if a maintenance-induced fault caused the in-flight emergency, the entity that returned the aircraft to service is a potential defendant. Maintenance records are a federal requirement and a treasure map in any aviation case — when something goes wrong mechanically, the answer almost always lives in those records.
City of Laredo / TxDOT This is a weaker theory, but it is preserved. If the placement of the highway light post, the absence of a crash-zone equivalent, or the design of Loop 20 contributed to the fatal impact after the aircraft came down, a non-delegable duty argument against the public entities may be available. Government-entity cases in Texas carry notice-of-claim traps under the Texas Tort Claims Act that we will discuss below, but they are not foreclosed. The question is whether the highway did its part to minimize the harm, and that question is investigated like every other.
The Federal Regulations at the Center of the Case
Every aviation case turns on a stack of federal regulations. They are not just rules for pilots and mechanics — in a courtroom, they are standards of care. When a federal regulation is violated, that violation is admissible as evidence of negligence. In Texas, that principle is well established. Here are the regulations most likely to drive the Laredo case.
14 CFR § 91.151 and § 91.177 — Fuel requirements. A pilot must have enough fuel to complete the flight, plus a reserve. For a flight under visual flight rules, the reserve is daytime forty-five minutes; for instrument flight rules, the reserve is forty-five minutes at normal cruising speed. If the pilot continued an approach with reported low fuel and the engines subsequently flamed out, the question of whether § 91.151 or § 91.177 was violated is dispositive of pilot negligence.
14 CFR § 91.7 — Airworthiness responsibility. The pilot in command is responsible for determining that the aircraft is in condition for safe flight. If mechanical issues were reported before the crash and the aircraft was not diverted, that is a § 91.7 question. The pilot may not accept an aircraft that is not airworthy and continue the flight.
14 CFR § 91.103 — Preflight action. Before beginning a flight, the pilot must become familiar with available information concerning that flight, including weather, fuel, and any known delays. Fuel planning is part of preflight action. The records that document how much fuel was on board, when it was loaded, and how the planned reserve was calculated live in the fuel-farm receipts, the ramp fueling logs, and the pilot’s own flight plan.
14 CFR Part 91, Subpart K — Fractional ownership operations. NetJets’ operations are conducted under Subpart K, which imposes specific crew training, maintenance, and operational standards that mirror and in some respects exceed airline standards. Subpart K also creates a specific record-keeping regime that we will demand in discovery. The maintenance program, the operational control system, the safety management system (SMS) — all of it is discoverable, and all of it is built to be examined when something goes wrong.
14 CFR § 91.151 (Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions): “No person may begin a flight in an airplane under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed — (1) During the day, to fly after that for at least 30 minutes; or (2) At night, to fly after that for at least 45 minutes.”
49 CFR § 830.5 — Immediate NTSB notification. Any fatal aircraft accident triggers immediate notification to the NTSB. The notification brings federal investigators on scene, and it brings the wreckage-preservation rule of 49 CFR § 831.10 — no voluntary changes may be made to the wreckage until the NTSB takes custody, except to remove injured persons, prevent further injury, or protect the wreckage from further damage. That rule protects the evidence you need.
49 CFR § 44710 and Gonzalez v. Chevron. This is the federal-preemption doctrine. State-law claims that challenge the design of a type-certified aircraft are barred. State-law claims based on operational negligence, manufacturing defects, and non-design-related product failures survive. The line is technical, and it is the reason aviation cases are not handled by lawyers who do not understand the distinction.
Texas Wrongful Death and Survival Law: What This Family Can Recover
Texas recognizes two distinct claims that travel together when someone dies as a result of someone else’s negligence. The first is the wrongful-death claim, which belongs to the surviving beneficiaries. The second is the survival claim, which belongs to the estate of the person who died. The two are different, and the family may be entitled to both.
The Texas Wrongful Death Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 71.001–71.003) allows a wrongful-death action to be brought by the surviving spouse, the children (including adult and adopted children), and the parents of the deceased. The damages recoverable in a wrongful-death action include: the mental anguish suffered by the beneficiaries; the loss of companionship and society; the loss of parental guidance, if there are minor children; the loss of services and support the deceased would have provided; the loss of inheritance the beneficiaries would reasonably have expected; and the pecuniary loss sustained by the beneficiaries. Funeral and burial expenses are recoverable. The damages are not capped by Texas statute for compensatory wrongful-death damages. The family is not required to prove the deceased was a high earner. A retired person, a child, a person who stayed home to raise kids — all of their lives have compensable value in Texas.
The Texas Survival Statute (§ 71.021) preserves a cause of action that the deceased would have had if he or she had lived. The survival claim belongs to the estate, and it recovers the deceased’s pre-death conscious pain and suffering, pre-death medical bills, and any other losses the deceased himself sustained between the crash and death. In a case where the deceased was conscious on Loop 20 — trapped inside a burning, tipped fuselage while strangers broke the cockpit glass with a sledgehammer — pre-death pain and suffering is a real and significant element of damages. The survival statute exists precisely to make a corporation pay for what its conduct caused a person to endure before death.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.021 (Survival of cause of action): “A cause of action for personal injury to the health, reputation, or person of an injured person does not abate by reason of the death of the injured person. A cause of action for personal injury survives for the benefit of the heirs of the deceased person, in the case of a personal injury, and for the benefit of the estate of the deceased person, in the case of a personal injury that results in the death of the injured person.”
Texas’s modified comparative negligence rule (§ 33.001) bars recovery only if the claimant is more than 50 percent at fault. In a single-aircraft case, that rule is rarely an obstacle. It matters if a third party’s conduct (such as a road design choice) is alleged, or if the defense tries to shift fault onto the passengers for some reason. The rule is a high bar, not a low one.
Punitive damages in Texas are available on proof of gross negligence, malice, or fraud. The statutory cap is the greater of $200,000 or two times the amount of economic damages (§ 41.008), but the cap does not apply where the conduct was intentional, and it does not apply in certain other contexts. The conduct that leads to a fuel-starved approach on a state highway at night — if that conduct rises to gross negligence — supports a punitive claim. We will see what the NTSB’s probable cause determination shows.
The Evidence Clock: What Disappears in Days
This is the part of the case that is most often lost by families who wait to call a lawyer. The federal investigation has its own timeline, and that timeline does not stop the corporate evidence from being purged, the video from being deleted, or the recording from being reused. Here is what we work to freeze, and how fast it dies.
LRD tower recordings and FAA STARS radar data. The FAA retains tower tapes for 45 days, then reuses them. A preservation letter and a Freedom of Information Act request must be filed immediately. The 9:58 PM “low fuel, mechanical issues” call, the loss of communications, any vectors or clearances given by the tower — all of that lives in the recording. If we do not freeze it in the first 45 days, it is gone.
Bystander dashcam, cell phone, and social-media video. Multiple bystanders recorded the crash on the night of June 16. Some of that video is already public. More exists on phones and in inboxes. Web-preservation subpoenas must be served on platforms (YouTube, Instagram, X, Google) within 30 days of upload, often sooner. Bystanders may also overwrite their phones in the normal course of life. We identify the witnesses, contact them, and obtain the originals before the universe of copies shrinks.
Laredo Police Department bodycam and dashcam, 911 audio, and fire/EMS records. Bodycam retention in Texas is typically 90 to 180 days without an active preservation request. The five officers who were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, the firefighter who climbed the small ladder into the fuselage, the dispatchers, the paramedics — their on-scene statements, their actions, and their observations are documented in bodycam and 911 audio. Those statements are admissible as excited utterances, and they may include early observations of the aircraft, the position of the occupants, and the condition of the scene.
Loop 20 TxDOT traffic cameras and highway-maintenance logs. TxDOT’s retention is generally 30 to 90 days. The placement of the light post, the road surface, the lighting, the speed limit, the configuration of the highway — all of it is in TxDOT records. If the road design is part of the case, those records are central.
Fuel records, fuel-farm receipts, and ramp fueling logs at LRD. These may be purged after 30 days. The fuel-truck digital logs, the paper receipts, the weight-and-balance calculations, the pilot’s preflight fuel planning — all of it is the record that proves or disproves the “low fuel” call. If the aircraft was low on fuel, the records show it. If the fuel planning was wrong, the records show that too.
NetJets’ maintenance, training, and crew records. We send a spoliation letter to NetJets within 14 days. Routine rotation in NetJets’ electronic systems can purge records. The pilot’s application, training records, recurrent check rides, line-check data, the maintenance history of this specific aircraft, the company’s compliance with its own operations specifications — every bit of it is discoverable, and every bit of it begins to be at risk the moment the airplane goes down.
The NTSB retains the wreckage, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR). The CVR captures two hours of cockpit audio. The FDR captures 25 hours of flight data — speed, altitude, control inputs, engine parameters, fuel flow, the works. The FDR is the single most important piece of evidence in any aviation case. To ensure that the plaintiff has access to the NTSB’s factual reports and to be heard on the custody and testing of the recorders, we file a request for “party to the investigation” status under 49 CFR § 702(6)(b). That status gives us a seat at the table during the federal process — not to control it, but to make sure our client’s voice is in the room when the NTSB makes decisions about evidence.
The Two-Year Deadline You Cannot Wait to Use
Texas law gives a personal-injury and wrongful-death plaintiff two years from the date of death to file suit. The statute is Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(b). For the family of the person pronounced dead on Loop 20, the clock started on June 16, 2026. For the five injured survivors, the clock starts on the date of their injury. The deadline is two years, not three, not five — two.
The federal NTSB investigation is going to take 12 to 24 months, often longer. The Factual Report typically issues around the 12-to-18-month mark. The Final Probable Cause Report often comes two years or more after the crash. A family that waits for the NTSB to finish before talking to a lawyer is not “waiting for the evidence.” They are losing the time they have to send preservation letters, identify witnesses, take contemporaneous statements, and develop the case on the civil side while the federal process runs. The NTSB investigation does not replace a civil case. The NTSB does not award damages. The NTSB does not negotiate settlements for injured survivors. A wrongful-death and survival lawsuit must be filed in parallel, on the state civil clock, regardless of where the federal investigation stands.
Texas’s modified comparative negligence rule (§ 33.001) bars recovery only if the claimant is more than 50 percent at fault. In a single-aircraft case, that rule is rarely an obstacle. It matters if the defense tries to shift fault onto a third party, or onto a passenger, or onto the road design. We address comparative fault head-on, with the evidence, before the defense has a chance to build a narrative around it.
NetJets and Berkshire Hathaway: Why the Deep Pocket Matters
NetJets is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. That is not a piece of trivia — it is the financial reality of the case. The same resources that fund NetJets’ aggressive defense counsel also fund full policy limits. The same lawyers who fly in to defend the case understand that a Texas jury, in a Webb County courtroom, is going to look at a Citation nearly sheared in half on a state highway and at the family of a person who did not come home, and is going to want to know what NetJets is going to do about it.
NetJets has a long history of activating its in-house “crisis response” team within hours of any accident, sometimes contacting passengers and families before counsel is retained. That early contact is not an act of compassion. It is a triage operation. The company is identifying the people who will eventually have claims, gathering facts, and beginning the process of building a defense before the family has had time to think about who to call. The way to neutralize that playbook is to call a lawyer before you call NetJets back.
Berkshire Hathaway’s deep pockets also mean that structured settlements and wrongful-death trusts (Tex. Prop. Code § 142.005) are real planning tools. For minor survivors — and three of the five injured appear to be teenagers — a lump-sum recovery can disqualify a family from means-tested government benefits (Medicaid, SSI, educational assistance). A properly structured settlement, or a trust under § 142.005, preserves those benefits and provides for the minor’s long-term care. We work with structured-settlement consultants and trust attorneys to make sure the money lasts and the benefits survive.
The NetJets Playbook: How It Runs and How We Counter It
We have worked cases against carriers with this exact corporate posture. Here is what is coming, in roughly the order it is coming, and the counter for each move.
Play 1 — The “We are so sorry” call within 24 to 72 hours. NetJets’ crisis-response team is already in motion. A representative will call to express sympathy and to ask, gently, whether the family or the injured survivor would be willing to “just tell us what happened.” That conversation is being recorded. Statements made in that conversation can be — and will be — played back later to impeach a witness or to suggest the family is not as devastated as the evidence shows. The counter: do not give a recorded statement to anyone from NetJets, its insurer, or its representatives. Forward the call to your lawyer. There is no rule that says you have to talk to them. There is no rule that says you have to be polite to them. You can be polite later. Right now, your lawyer is the only one you should be talking to.
Play 2 — The quick settlement offer for the injured survivors. Within the first weeks, the injured survivors may receive a cash offer. It will come with a release. The release will say that the survivor releases NetJets from all claims, known and unknown, arising from the crash. The number will look generous next to a stack of unpaid medical bills. The number will be a fraction of what the case is worth once the full medical picture is known. The counter: do not sign a release until you understand the full extent of the injuries, the full coverage available, and the full value of the claim. A release is forever. A pre-diagnosis release is malpractice by the signer.
Play 3 — The social-media and surveillance operation. The defense will be looking at every public post by the family and the survivors. They will be watching for any photograph, any caption, any moment that can be used to suggest the survivor is “doing fine.” A teenager on Loop 20 who was pulled from a burning fuselage by strangers with a sledgehammer and a shovel will be photographed at a birthday party two months later, and that photograph will be filed as an exhibit. The counter: counsel the family and the survivors, in plain English, about what to post and what not to post. The rule is simple — if you would not want a defense lawyer to show it to a jury, do not post it. For close family, that means going dark on the case for a while.
Play 4 — The NTSB report as a delay tactic. NetJets’ defense counsel will use the pending NTSB investigation as a reason to delay civil discovery, to delay depositions, to delay producing records. “We cannot comment while the federal investigation is pending.” That is a posture, not a rule. The federal process does not stop the civil process. Discovery in a Texas state-court case proceeds on the Texas schedule. The counter: file suit, set a discovery schedule, and use the federal process to support, not replace, the civil case.
Play 5 — The “we have to verify coverage” dance. Coverage questions, limits questions, and reservation-of-rights letters will arrive with great deliberation. The counter: we demand insurance disclosures under Texas law, and we prepare to litigate coverage disputes in parallel when the carrier tries to delay.
For more on what you should never say to an insurance adjuster, see our guide at What You Should Not Say to an Insurance Adjuster.
What a Case Like This Is Worth
Honest answer: it depends on the facts, the proof, and the people. We do not give flat figures, and any lawyer who quotes a number in a first meeting is guessing. Here are the drivers of value in a Texas aviation case against a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, and the ranges that those drivers produce in cases like this one.
Single-fatality cases against a well-capitalized operator generally resolve in a range from the low seven figures to the mid-eight figures. In a case with clear pilot or maintenance negligence, corroborated by the NTSB, with a high-earning decedent and strong punitive exposure, the range can extend higher. In a case where liability is shared with a product-defect theory, or where the decedent was not a high earner, the range is lower. The honest spread on a single-fatality case of this type is approximately $4,000,000 to $35,000,000. The number that ultimately lands depends on the evidence, the jury, the venue, and the work.
For the five injured survivors, the value depends on the nature and permanence of the injuries. Three are apparently teenagers, who face the longest future of medical care and lost earning capacity. A spinal injury, a traumatic brain injury, severe burns, or permanent orthopedic damage can support seven-figure recoveries of $1,000,000 to $8,000,000 or more per survivor, depending on the specifics. Soft-tissue injuries and minor orthopedic injuries resolve for less. The full medical picture is not yet known. The picture will be known, and the case value will be set, only after the medical record is complete.
The pre-death conscious pain and suffering of the deceased is its own damages category under the Texas Survival Statute (§ 71.021). In a case where the deceased was conscious on Loop 20 — inside a burning, tipped, nearly sheared-in-half fuselage while bystanders broke the cockpit glass — that element of damages is significant, and it is not double-counted with the wrongful-death damages. It is a separate claim belonging to the estate.
Punitive damages are available on proof of gross negligence, malice, or fraud. The conduct that leads to a fuel-starved approach on a state highway at night, if it rises to gross negligence, supports a punitive claim. Texas caps punitive damages at the greater of $200,000 or two times the economic damages under § 41.008, with exceptions for intentional conduct and certain other contexts. The cap is real, but the gross-negligence finding that supports punitives is the same finding that drives the compensatory number up.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. The dollar figures above are the ranges our experience produces in cases of this type, not predictions for this family.
How We Build a Case Like This
Aviation cases are won on the ground, not in the air. The plane crashed. We cannot un-crash it. What we can do is build the case that explains why it crashed, who decided what, and what the family and the survivors are entitled to under Texas law. Here is the work, in the order we do it.
Week one. Spoliation letters go out to NetJets, to Cessna/Textron Aviation, to Pratt & Whitney Canada, to the Laredo airport authority, and to TxDOT. A request for “party to the investigation” status under 49 CFR § 702(6)(b) is filed with the NTSB. A preservation request is filed with the FAA for the LRD tower recordings and STARS data. Web-preservation subpoenas are prepared for the platforms hosting bystander video. The family is counseled, in plain language, about what to do and what not to do — including the insurance-adjuster rule, the social-media rule, and the medical-care rule.
Months one to three. Depositions of first responders, the bystander rescuers, the NetJets operations-center personnel, and the Laredo airport staff are taken. Memories are fresh. Witness bias toward the corporate defendant is at its weakest before depositions, formal discovery, and defense counsel involvement harden the witnesses’ accounts. The CVR and FDR transcripts are requested through the NTSB process as soon as they are released to parties.
Months three to twelve. Experts are retained. An aviation-accident reconstructionist interprets the FDR data, the wreckage, and the impact signature. A human-factors expert evaluates crew decision-making. A fuel-system specialist analyzes the fuel state, the fuel planning, and any fuel-system failure mode. A corporate-safety-culture expert evaluates NetJets’ Safety Management System, its training program, its pilot selection, and its historical compliance with its own operations specifications. Each expert is the kind of person who has testified in aviation cases before and who can stand up to a Berkshire-funded defense team.
Months twelve to eighteen. The NTSB Factual Report typically issues. The report is a major milestone — it is the federal government’s first public account of what happened, and it gives the civil case a factual backbone. Mediation may be considered at this stage, with the leverage the Factual Report provides.
Months eighteen to twenty-four and beyond. The NTSB Final Probable Cause Report typically issues. The civil case proceeds through expert depositions, dispositive motions, and trial preparation. If NetJets will not resolve the case on terms that make the family and the survivors whole, the case is tried. Webb County juries are plaintiff-oriented in commercial-transportation cases, and that orientation is the home-field advantage the family deserves.
For a step-by-step look at how cases like this move from investigation to resolution, see our guide to commercial-vehicle and catastrophic settlements. The mechanics translate across case types, and the warning signs of a carrier playing for time are the same.
What a NetJets Case Looks Like From the Inside
Lupe Peña, our associate attorney, spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm before he moved to the plaintiff’s side. He sat in the rooms where adjusters decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims. He knows what a case file looks like when a NetJets adjuster opens it. He knows the first three calls that get made, the first three records that get pulled, and the first three statements that get scheduled. That is the playbook you are about to be on the wrong end of — and it is the playbook we run in reverse.
Ralph Manginello, our managing partner, has been in courtrooms for 27+ years, including federal court, and his record includes BP Texas City refinery-explosion litigation. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer and a championship-team point guard before that. He explains like a storyteller and fights like a competitor who hates losing. He has stood in front of juries against corporations the size of mountains. The people you call when a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary is the other side of the case are the people who have done this before. Ralph’s background is here, and Lupe’s is here.
We handle these cases on contingency. You pay nothing up front. You pay nothing at all unless we recover. The consultation is free, and it is confidential. If you would rather read about contingency fees before you call, our guide is at How Contingency Fees Work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can file a wrongful-death lawsuit in Texas after a NetJets crash?
The Texas Wrongful Death Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 71.001–71.003) authorizes the surviving spouse, the children (including adult and adopted), and the parents of the deceased to bring the wrongful-death claim. A survival claim under § 71.021 is brought by the personal representative of the deceased’s estate. The two claims are different, the damages are different, and the family may be entitled to both. The personal representative is appointed by the probate court; we handle that appointment.
How long do I have to file a wrongful-death case in Texas?
Two years from the date of death under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(b). For the family of the person pronounced dead on Loop 20 on June 16, 2026, the deadline is June 16, 2028. For the five injured survivors, the two-year clock runs from the date of injury. The NTSB investigation is going to take 12 to 24 months, often longer. The federal process does not extend the state civil deadline. A civil case must be filed in parallel, regardless of where the federal investigation stands.
What damages can the family of the deceased recover?
Under the Texas Wrongful Death Act, the family can recover mental anguish, loss of companionship and society, loss of parental guidance (if minor children are involved), loss of services and support, loss of inheritance, and funeral and burial expenses. The estate can recover, under the Survival Statute (§ 71.021), the deceased’s pre-death conscious pain and suffering and pre-death medical bills. The damages are not capped by Texas statute for compensatory wrongful-death damages. Punitive damages are available on proof of gross negligence, malice, or fraud, subject to the statutory cap of § 41.008 (with exceptions).
What if the person who died was not the family’s primary earner?
Texas wrongful-death damages are not limited to lost earnings. The jury may compensate the value of the relationship, the loss of companionship and society, the loss of parental guidance, and the loss of household services. A retired person, a stay-at-home parent, a child — all of their lives have compensable value in Texas. The case is about what the family lost, not just what the deceased earned.
Can the family sue NetJets and also sue the pilot individually?
Yes. NetJets is vicariously liable for its employee pilots under respondeat superior, and the pilots may also be individually liable for their own negligence. Suing the pilot individually does not reduce NetJets’ exposure; it adds a defendant and a set of personal assets and insurance. In some cases, suing the individual crewmember is the way to pierce corporate defenses and force disclosure of training, supervision, and operational decisions that the company would prefer to keep sealed.
Can the family sue Cessna (Textron Aviation) or Pratt & Whitney Canada?
Yes, if the NTSB investigation finds a mechanical failure in the airframe, fuel system, avionics, or engine. Federal preemption under 49 U.S.C. § 44710, interpreted under the Supreme Court’s framework in Gonzalez v. Chevron, bars state-law claims that challenge the design of a type-certified aircraft. It does not bar claims based on manufacturing defects, operational defects, or failures in components that were not the subject of type certification. The line is technical, and it is the reason you need an aviation lawyer who knows where the preemption line actually falls.
What if the deceased or a survivor was partly at fault?
Texas’s modified comparative negligence rule (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001) bars recovery only if the claimant is more than 50 percent at fault. In a single-aircraft case, that bar is rarely reached. If a third party’s conduct (such as a road design choice) is alleged, or if the defense tries to shift fault onto a passenger for some reason, the rule is a high bar, not a low one. We address comparative fault head-on, with the evidence, before the defense has a chance to build a narrative around it.
What evidence should the family try to preserve right now?
Three things, in this order. First, the FAA tower recording from LRD on the night of June 16, 2026 — that recording dies in 45 days and must be frozen by a preservation letter and a Freedom of Information Act request. Second, the bystander video on phones and on social media — web-preservation subpoenas must be served on platforms within 30 days of upload. Third, the fuel records, the maintenance records, and the pilot records from NetJets — those records begin to be at risk the moment the airplane goes down, and a spoliation letter must go to NetJets within 14 days. The Laredo Police Department bodycam, dashcam, and 911 audio, and the TxDOT traffic cameras and highway-maintenance logs, are also time-sensitive. The earlier we get the letters out, the more of the record survives.
What if NetJets has already contacted the family?
Forward the call or the email to your lawyer. Do not give a recorded statement. Do not sign anything. The NetJets crisis-response team is identifying potential claimants, gathering facts, and beginning to build a defense. Their sympathy is real; their job is real; your interests are not aligned with theirs. The first move in the playbook is the recorded statement. The counter is your lawyer, on the phone, before you call them back.
How long does an aviation case like this take to resolve?
Honest answer: most cases resolve before trial, but the timeline is measured in years, not months. The NTSB investigation runs 12 to 24 months, often longer. Mediation is typically considered after the NTSB Factual Report issues, around the 12-to-18-month mark, but before the Final Probable Cause Report. If the case does not resolve at mediation, trial preparation runs another 12 to 18 months. The family is not waiting on the calendar — the case is being built the entire time, and the work in months one through six is what determines the number at the end.
How much does it cost to hire a lawyer for a case like this?
We handle these cases on contingency. You pay no attorney fee up front. You pay no attorney fee at all unless we recover. The costs of the case (filing fees, deposition transcripts, expert fees, records retrieval) are advanced by the firm and recovered out of any settlement or verdict. The percentage and the cost structure are explained in plain language in the retainer agreement before you sign. For a step-by-step explanation of how contingency fees work in injury cases, see our guide.
Is it worth getting a lawyer for a case like this?
Yes, and not just for the courtroom skill. The evidence preservation, the NTSB party-status request, the spoliation letters, the FAA preservation request, the early witness identification, the expert retention, the insurance-coverage litigation, the structured-settlement planning for the minor survivors — none of that happens on its own, and none of it happens well if it is done late. A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary is not going to write a check because a family asks nicely. For a broader look at what an experienced trial team does, see our guide on hiring an injury lawyer.
Free Case Evaluation — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC
If you are the family of the person who did not come home from Loop 20, or one of the five who did, the consultation is free and it is confidential. The call is 24/7. The number is 1-888-ATTY-911. We will talk about what happened, what the next 45 days require, and what an experienced trial team can do for your family. There is no fee unless we win.
If you would rather start by reading more about wrongful-death claims in Texas, our practice-area page walks through the framework in plain language. For a broader look at our practice, the full list is at our practice areas. If you are ready to talk, the contact page is here.
Ralph Manginello, managing partner — 27+ years in courtrooms, including federal court; admitted 1998; BP Texas City refinery-explosion litigation pedigree. Lupe Peña, associate attorney — former insurance-defense attorney who now fights the carriers; fluent Spanish. Hablamos Español. The firm has recovered more than $50 million for Texas families since 1998. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. The page above is legal information, not legal advice for a specific case; the consultation is the place to get advice.