What just happened on Loop 20, and what it means for your family tonight
If you are reading this page, someone you love was on a Cessna Citation Latitude that came down on the Bob Bullock Loop in Laredo on the evening of June 16, 2026, and did not land. One person is dead. Five others are in area hospitals. NTSB and FBI investigators are still on the pavement. And within the next 24 to 48 hours — maybe sooner — a claims representative from a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate will call you. They will sound compassionate. They will offer to “help.” They will ask you to give a recorded statement. Some of them will arrive with a check and a release. None of what they say will be on your side.
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC, a Texas trial firm with offices in Houston, Austin, and Beaumont, and we have spent 27 years standing between families and the claims machines that come for them in the first hours after a tragedy. We did not handle this crash. We have not been retained. But we know exactly what is about to happen to your family if you do not get the right advice in the next five days, and we built this page to give that advice to you for free, right now, before that phone rings.
What follows is the most complete public-facing breakdown of the Laredo Loop 20 crash, the Cessna Citation Latitude (tail number N523QS), NetJets’ liability as the fractional operator, the federal regulatory regime that governs their flights, the Texas wrongful-death and survival statutes that govern your family’s recovery, the evidence that is being collected and the evidence that can disappear, and the precise steps a Texas trial team takes in the first week to protect a case like this. Read it. Then call us at 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win. We serve families across Texas in English and Spanish — Hablamos Español.
What we know about the crash on Loop 20
On Tuesday evening, June 16, 2026, a Cessna Citation Latitude business jet, registration N523QS, departed San Jose del Cabo International Airport (SJD) in Mexico bound for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). The aircraft was operated by NetJets, the world’s largest fractional-ownership operator and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. For reasons still under investigation, the flight diverted to Laredo International Airport (LRD), a common diversion field for trans-border Mexico-to-Texas flights when weather or mechanical issues arise.
The flight did not land at LRD. According to the publicly available FlightRadar24 track, the aircraft’s data terminates over the Bob Bullock Loop — Texas State Highway Loop 20 — at approximately 10:00 PM local time. The aircraft impacted the roadway, scattering wreckage and releasing jet fuel across the highway surface. Six occupants were aboard. One was fatally injured. Five were transported to area hospitals. Loop 20 was shut down in both directions for an extended cleanup and investigation. Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño issued a public statement of condolence. The NTSB and FBI responded to the scene.
The tail number N523QS sits inside NetJets’ standard QS-suffix block — the company’s callsign convention for its fractional-owner fleet. The aircraft is a Cessna Citation Latitude, a mid-size twin-engine business jet manufactured by Textron Aviation, first flown in 2014 and certified in 2015. It is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306D1 turbofan engines. The Latitude is one of the most-flown business jets in the NetJets fleet, and the crash has triggered a formal NTSB investigation, an ICAO Annex 13 inquiry by Mexican authorities (the aircraft originated in Mexico), and a federal probe that will take between 12 and 18 months to issue a probable-cause determination.
The aircraft: Cessna Citation Latitude N523QS
Before you can understand who is responsible, you have to understand what was flying. The Cessna Citation Latitude is a 2,000-nautical-mile-class mid-size business jet, certified for single-pilot operation but typically flown with two pilots under NetJets’ operations specifications. The aircraft seats up to nine passengers in standard configuration and is approved for flight into known icing. It is equipped with Garmin G5000 integrated avionics, dual Flight Management Systems, and a full autopilot and autothrottle suite.
The Latitude entered type certification in 2015, meaning it is a relatively young airframe. That matters for one specific reason: the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA, 49 U.S.C. § 40101 note) imposes an 18-year statute of repose on product-liability claims against general-aviation manufacturers. Once an aircraft’s design has been in service for 18 years, a manufacturer cannot be sued for design defects that existed at certification. The Citation Latitude entered service in 2014, so GARA is not yet a bar — the aircraft is roughly 12 years into the 18-year window. Textron Aviation remains a live products-liability defendant if a fuel-system, engine, flight-control, avionics, or autopilot malfunction contributed to the crash.
The PW306D1 engines, the Garmin G5000 avionics suite, and any component-level systems (fuel pumps, de-ice boots, pitot-static components, transponders) are all within their own design and manufacturing chain. If the NTSB probable-cause report identifies a component failure — a fuel quantity indication problem, an engine flameout, an autopilot anomaly — the component manufacturer becomes a separate defendant under strict products liability and negligence.
The operator: NetJets, Inc. and the Berkshire Hathaway claims machine
NetJets is not a small charter company. NetJets, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, and it operates a fleet of more than 750 business jets across fractional-ownership, lease, and managed programs. It is the largest operator of business jets in the world. It has more insured wealth behind every flight than most regional airlines. And it has, in the last decade, been involved in multiple fatal accidents — including a 2021 Citation Longitude crash in Akron, Ohio, and a 2016 Challenger 604 crash in Miami. The NTSB’s historical accident data and NetJets’ own Safety Management System (SMS) records are discoverable in any litigation that follows this crash.
NetJets carries substantial corporate liability limits — typically $100 million or more per occurrence in aviation products and non-owned liability insurance — and historically retains nationally recognized aviation defense firms (Condon & Forsyth, Clyde & Co, Wilson Elser). When a NetJets flight crashes, the response is corporate, coordinated, and immediate. A claims team from a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate will be at the crash site within hours. A senior counsel will be in Laredo by the end of the week. An NTSB Party representative will be designated within the first five days. And a condolence call to your family will be made before the wreckage is removed.
That is who you are up against. It is not a small operation you can outlast on a phone call. It is the largest, best-resourced private-aviation claims operation in the world. The only way a Texas family wins against that kind of opponent is to build the case before the opponent finishes building theirs.
Why the rules are different: FAA Part 91 Subpart K vs. Part 121
When a commercial airliner crashes, the passengers are protected by the Montreal Convention — an international treaty that creates strict liability, mandatory insurance floors, and a two-year deadline to file suit. Passengers on Delta, American, or United flights never have to wonder whether they can recover. The system handles it.
Private aviation is a different system. NetJets operates under 14 CFR Part 91 Subpart K — the regulatory regime that governs fractional-ownership program operations. Subpart K sits inside Part 91, the general aviation rules that govern non-commercial flights. The Montreal Convention does not apply because NetJets flights are not scheduled commercial service — they are private, non-scheduled operations, even though they are operated by a for-profit company. That distinction matters enormously for your family.
The Montreal Convention’s strict-liability framework, its mandatory airline insurance floors, and its streamlined two-year deadline do not apply to a NetJets flight. Your family’s claims are governed by common-law negligence, federal aviation regulations, and Texas tort statutes — meaning we have to prove what an airline passenger would receive automatically.
What this means in practice: the insurance coverage that responds to your loss is not a treaty-mandated floor. It is whatever coverage NetJets’ corporate liability tower carries — typically $100 million or more in non-owned and products liability, plus the hull policy on the aircraft. The deadline to file is Texas’s two-year statute of limitations under CPRC § 16.003(b), not the Montreal Convention’s two-year window. And the theory of recovery is negligence (and potentially gross negligence for punitive exposure), not the strict liability the Convention would otherwise provide.
Part 91 Subpart K does impose its own obligations. Subpart K fractional operators must maintain crew training programs, duty-time and rest requirements that exceed ordinary Part 91 rules, and a Safety Management System. NetJets’ own training records, dispatch records, and SMS data are discoverable. If the pilots were fatigued, if dispatch released the flight with inadequate fuel reserves, if maintenance cleared an aircraft that should not have been cleared, if the company’s training program failed to prepare this crew for the conditions they faced — those are corporate-negligence theories that reach NetJets directly, not just the individual pilots.
Who is liable when a business jet falls out of the sky
The defendant map in a NetJets crash is not one defendant. It is a system. We build cases against every layer.
NetJets, Inc. carries direct operator liability under FAA Part 91 Subpart K and common-law negligent entrustment and operation. As the fractional-owner operator, NetJets is responsible for crew qualification, training, flight-following, dispatch decisions, airworthiness, and fuel planning. NetJets is also vicariously liable for the employed pilots’ negligence under respondeat superior — the pilots are NetJets employees, not independent contractors, and their on-duty negligence is the company’s bill.
The Pilots-in-Command are direct defendants for any negligence in the operation of the flight. Their logbooks, training records, currency, 72-hour flight histories, and crew resource management (CRM) records are central exhibits. If they miscalculated fuel, if they continued a diversion past the point of no return, if they failed to declare an emergency, if they lost situational awareness — those are theories of direct negligence.
Textron Aviation Inc. is the manufacturer of the Citation Latitude and carries potential products-liability exposure if the investigation reveals a fuel-system, engine, flight-control, avionics, or autopilot malfunction. Textron is a deep-pocket corporate defendant with substantial insurance and a long history of defending these cases.
Component manufacturers — Pratt & Whitney Canada (PW306D1 engines), Garmin (G5000 avionics), Collins Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, or others — become defendants if a component-level failure caused or contributed to the crash. The discovery on these defendants is technical and requires aviation engineering experts.
City of Laredo and TxDOT are potential third-party defendants only — relevant if civilian motorists on Loop 20 were injured by debris or jet fuel, or if a roadway-design or maintenance claim arises. Any claim against a Texas governmental entity must comply with the Texas Tort Claims Act notice requirements — suit within six months of the incident under the Texas Tort Claims Act framework, a deadline that is far shorter than the two-year wrongful-death SOL.
Mexican service providers at SJD — fueling, de-icing, ground-handling contractors at Los Cabos International — are potential defendants if contaminated fuel, improper defueling, or ground-handling deficiencies contributed. Mexican records are fragile and require immediate preservation through international legal assistance channels.
Texas wrongful death and survival law
When a death is caused by the negligence of another, Texas law provides two distinct claims that can be brought by the family: a wrongful-death claim and a survival action. Both are statutory, and both have their own deadlines and damage rules.
The Texas Wrongful Death Act, found at Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 71.001-71.003, allows the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased to recover for the full range of losses caused by the death. Texas recognizes damages for pecuniary loss (the financial support the decedent would have provided), loss of companionship and society, mental anguish, and pain and suffering. Texas does not cap wrongful-death or survival damages in aviation cases — meaning the full value of the loss, however large, is recoverable from a defendant with sufficient insurance.
The survival action under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.021 brings the decedent’s own pre-death damages — pain and suffering from the moment of impact to the moment of death, pre-death medical expenses, and any property damage. The survival claim belongs to the decedent’s estate and is brought by the personal representative, not by the family directly.
Texas adopted modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar under CPRC § 33.001. If the decedent was 50% or less at fault, recovery is preserved and reduced by the decedent’s percentage of fault. If the decedent was 51% or more at fault, recovery is barred entirely. This matters in aviation cases because the defense will always argue that the pilots — the decedent’s fellow crew — were primarily at fault. Our job is to prove that the company’s choices (training, scheduling, dispatch, maintenance, fuel planning) created the conditions for the crash, and that the corporate defendants bear the lion’s share of the fault.
Texas recognizes pre-judgment interest at 5% simple interest under Tex. Fin. Code § 304.003 from the date the cause of action accrues. On a multi-year case, that 5% can add 10% to 20% to the final recovery — and it accrues against the defendant, not against you, as a cost of delay.
The statute of limitations for wrongful death in Texas is two years from the date of death under CPRC § 16.003(b). The clock starts on the day your loved one died, not the day of the crash. A passenger who survived the impact and died in the hospital weeks later resets the family’s clock to the death date. Two years is not a deadline to watch — it is a deadline to build toward, because the evidence clocks run on a different and much shorter timeline.
Damages: what your family can recover
Damages in a Texas aviation wrongful-death case fall into two broad categories: economic and non-economic. Both are fully recoverable against any defendant with sufficient coverage.
Economic damages include the decedent’s lost wages and earning capacity, calculated to present value using worklife expectancy tables and an economist’s discount model. NetJets fractional owners and their passengers are typically high-net-worth individuals — executives, professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs. Their lost-earnings calculations can exceed $5 million to $10 million depending on age, occupation, and trajectory. Economic damages also include lost fringe benefits, lost household services (the value of what the decedent did at home that now has to be hired out), pre-death medical bills, and funeral and burial expenses.
Non-economic damages in Texas include loss of companionship and society (the per-beneficiary wrongful-death “stack” that recognizes each family member’s separate loss), mental anguish, and the decedent’s pain and suffering from impact to death. Texas permits each statutory beneficiary to recover their own non-economic damages — meaning a spouse, each child, and each parent can present their own loss, not a single shared recovery.
Punitive damages are available in Texas but capped under CPRC § 41.008. The cap is the greater of $200,000 or two times the economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000. To recover punitive damages, the plaintiff must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s conduct was grossly negligent, malicious, or fraudulent. In an aviation case, punitive exposure typically requires evidence that the company knew of a dangerous condition, knew the danger could cause death, and continued the conduct anyway — falsified maintenance logs, knowingly dispatched an unairworthy aircraft, or continued operations with a known-fatigued crew. The Texas cap limits the total punitive exposure even where the conduct is egregious, but it does not eliminate it.
The case value range for a NetJets crash with one fatality and five injured survivors, against a $100M+ liability tower, runs from $2.5 million to $25 million or more for the wrongful-death claim alone. The range depends on the decedent’s income and wealth profile, the age of the decedent and beneficiaries, the apportionment of fault between pilot error and corporate negligence, and whether a products-liability co-defendant with deep pockets is added to the defendant pool. Texas wrongful-death verdicts in aviation cases have historically ranged $15M to $45M when corporate negligence is clear and the decedent is in a high-earning profession.
The five injured passengers have separate personal-injury claims — medical specials, lost income, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. Those claims are valued independently of the wrongful-death claim, and they are subject to their own two-year statute of limitations running from the date of injury, not the date of death.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
Evidence preservation: the clocks that start the moment the wreckage cools
A business-jet crash generates more evidence in the first 48 hours than most civil cases will ever produce. The question is not whether the evidence exists. The question is who gets to it first, who controls the copies, and whether the company’s lawyers are allowed to “investigate” alone.
Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). The FDR captures airspeed, altitude, attitude, control inputs, engine parameters, and configuration. The CVR captures crew conversation. Together, they prove cause and crew performance. The NTSB will secure both recorders, but parties to the investigation have a right under 49 CFR § 831.13 to request access, and the CVR transcript is typically released within 30 to 60 days. The FDR takes longer — often 6 to 12 months for a full readout.
NetJets flight operations records. Dispatch release, flight plan, weight and balance, fuel load, weather packet, NOTAMs, crew qualifications, training records, and recency files. These records prove whether the dispatch decision to depart and to divert complied with federal aviation regulations and NetJets’ own procedures. Demand for these records is critical and must be made within the first five days through the NTSB Party process, otherwise access is limited to what the company volunteers.
FlightRadar24 / ADS-B historical track. The publicly available FlightRadar24 data documenting the descent profile over Laredo and the deviation from the filed flight plan is critical evidence. FlightRadar24 only retains free-tier data for a limited time; paid archives are required for older lookups. Preserve screenshots immediately — this data documents the aircraft’s final moments, including altitude loss, ground speed, and track deviation.
Pilot records. The pilots’ 72-hour histories, logbooks, medical certificates, last proficiency checks, instrument proficiency checks, CRM training, and fatigue records establish competency, currency, and physical condition. Demand preservation to NetJets within seven days — the spoliation risk if these records are not formally preserved is significant.
Aircraft maintenance records. Airframe, engine (the PW306D1), avionics, Airworthiness Directive compliance, Service Bulletin compliance, recent inspections, and the maintenance release that put the aircraft into service for this flight. Demand immediately — Textron and NetJets may decommission or begin repairs before the wreckage is fully documented, and once a component is “repaired,” the original condition is lost.
Ground-handling records at SJD. Fuel quality and fuel-truck records, de-icing, pre-flight walk-around photos, and any contractor notes from Los Cabos International. Establishes whether fuel contamination, improper servicing, or ground-handling deficiencies contributed. Preserve via Hague Convention or Mexican Servicio Consular request immediately — Mexican records are fragile and Mexican service providers are not obligated to retain them for U.S. litigation purposes.
NTSB on-scene documentation. Photographs, wreckage reconstruction, witness marks on Loop 20 pavement, jet-fuel spread patterns, and wreckage distribution are all in the NTSB’s custody. Demand copies under 49 CFR § 831.11 once the docket opens, typically 6 to 12 months after the crash.
911 recordings, Laredo Police Department body cam, TxDOT traffic camera footage of Loop 20, and civilian cell-phone video. These document emergency response, scene conditions, and any third-party injuries on the roadway. Immediate public-records requests to LPD and TxDOT within days. Private video dissipates rapidly — the bystander who shot footage of the crash will delete it within weeks if no one asks for it.
The decedent’s electronic devices. Phone, tablet, laptop. These have no cockpit relevance, but they document communications pre-flight, location, and condition. The family should preserve these — do not wipe, do not reset, do not unlock for the insurer. They become family records, not company records, and they stay that way if you control them.
The NTSB Party process: why the first five days matter
The NTSB investigation is not a private company investigation. Under 49 U.S.C. §§ 1131-1134, the NTSB has exclusive federal jurisdiction over the investigation of civil aviation accidents. The NTSB’s probable-cause report is admissible in civil actions as relevant evidence but is not binding on courts. The investigation is the single most important discovery event in any aviation case — and the question of who gets to participate is decided in the first five days.
Under 49 CFR § 831.11, “parties to the investigation” may include the operator (NetJets), the manufacturer (Textron), the pilots, the air traffic control provider, and — critically — the families of the fatally injured passengers. Each Party is entitled to designate a representative, attend investigative hearings, submit proposed questions, receive factual reports, and propose safety recommendations. If the family does not file a § 831.11 request within the first days after the crash, they lose access to the most important discovery process in the case. The investigation will proceed, but the family will be reading about it in the press instead of being in the room.
NetJets will be a Party from day one, with elite aviation counsel at its side. Textron will be a Party. The component manufacturers will be Parties. The NTSB will be running the show. The question is whether your family is in the room asking questions, or watching from the sidewalk. We file § 831.11 Party requests the day you call, and we staff them with aviation-procedures attorneys who know the NTSB process, know the right questions, and know how to put the company’s representatives under oath on the record.
Statute of limitations and venue: why Laredo may not be where we file
Texas gives your family two years from the date of death to file suit under CPRC § 16.003(b). Two years sounds like a long time. It is not. The evidence preservation work, the NTSB investigation, the expert development, the demand for records, the mediation posture, and the pre-suit investigation all consume the first 12 to 18 months. By the time the NTSB issues a probable-cause report, your family will have one year or less to file suit if the company is not settling.
Venue is the other critical choice. Webb County — where Laredo sits — has a jury pool that tends toward conservative verdicts in civil cases, particularly against corporate defendants. The same case filed in Harris County (Houston) or Travis County (Austin) will draw from a different jury pool, one with more corporate-defendant experience and historically higher verdicts in aviation and catastrophic-injury cases. We evaluate venue based on the defendant’s domicile, the injury situs, and the jury profile — and in many cases, the right venue is not the county where the crash happened. The decision is strategic, made early, and made to put your family in front of the jury most likely to deliver full and fair compensation.
If NetJets is the principal defendant and its principal place of business is in Ohio (NetJets’ operational headquarters is in Columbus, Ohio), venue may properly lie in any county where the cause of action arose — which gives us options that Webb County does not control. We use that leverage.
The Berkshire Hathaway claims machine: their playbook, and how we counter each play
Berkshire Hathaway does not run small operations. When a NetJets aircraft crashes, the response is corporate, coordinated, and immediate. We have seen this playbook before, from the inside, and we know how to counter every play.
Play 1: The condolence call within 24 to 48 hours. A senior claims representative will call. They will introduce themselves. They will express sympathy. They will ask a few careful questions about the family, the decedent’s occupation, and whether the family has engaged counsel. They are not your friend. They are gathering the first data points that will go into a reserve calculation. The counter: thank them for the call, say nothing about fault, say nothing about damages, and tell them you are consulting with counsel before any further conversation.
Play 2: The recorded statement request. Within days, they will ask for a recorded statement from the family — sometimes framed as a “clarification” of the condolence call. The statement is engineered to get you to say something that will be used against you later: that the decedent was healthy, that the decedent had no plans to keep flying with NetJets, that the family has already received insurance proceeds, that the family is “doing fine.” Every word is a discovery tool. The counter: no recorded statements, period, ever, without counsel present and with the recording in our possession.
Play 3: The expedited settlement offer with a broad release. A check will arrive, sometimes within weeks. It will be accompanied by a release printed in eight-point type that waives every claim your family has against NetJets, Textron, the pilots, the component manufacturers, the service providers, and every related entity, in every jurisdiction, forever. The number on the check is calibrated to be large enough to feel like a gift and small enough to be a fraction of the case’s true value. The counter: do not cash the check, do not sign the release, and do not negotiate without knowing what the case is actually worth. We have handled cases where the company offered $250,000 before the medical records were complete and the case ultimately settled for $12 million.
Play 4: The NTSB Party representation. NetJets will be at the NTSB investigation with a senior aviation attorney and a team of technical advisors. If your family is not in the room, the NTSB’s factual record is built without your input. The counter: we file the § 831.11 Party request within five days and we put the company’s witnesses under oath in the NTSB’s investigative hearings.
Play 5: Coordinating the defense with Textron and the component manufacturers. NetJets, Textron, and the component makers will share counsel, share experts, and align their defenses. The corporate defendants will present a unified front. The counter: we file suit naming each defendant separately, we pursue each defendant’s specific theories, and we exploit the comparative-fault dynamics between corporate defendants who all want to blame each other for the crash.
How we investigate and build an aviation case
An aviation case is not built in a courtroom. It is built in the first 12 to 18 months, in a sequence that moves from the scene to the NTSB docket to the mediation table to the courthouse door.
Week 1: Preservation and Party status. We file the § 831.11 Party request within five days. We send spoliation letters to NetJets, Textron, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and the SJD service providers. We preserve FlightRadar24 and any other public data. We retain an NTSB-procedures attorney and a CVR/FDR forensic specialist. We contact the family before the company’s claims team does, if we can reach them first.
Weeks 2 to 8: NTSB participation and records demand. We attend NTSB investigative hearings. We submit proposed questions for the company’s witnesses. We demand pilot records, training files, dispatch records, and maintenance records through the Party process. We retain the aviation operations expert, the human factors expert, and the accident-reconstruction engineer.
Months 3 to 12: NTSB docket and expert development. The NTSB’s factual reports are released in tranches. We analyze the CVR transcript, the FDR readout, the weather data, and the air traffic control records. Our experts develop opinions on pilot decision-making, CRM performance, fuel planning, and the cause of the diversion. We depose the company’s technical representatives under oath, where the NTSB process permits.
Months 12 to 18: NTSB probable-cause report and demand package. The NTSB issues its probable-cause determination. We package the case for the insurance carrier: the liability analysis, the damages model, the venue analysis, and the trial-readiness assessment. We send a demand that reflects the true value of the case, not the value the company is hoping we will accept.
Months 18 to 24: Mediation or filing. If NetJets’ carrier is willing to engage, we mediate with a retired federal judge or a senior aviation mediator. If not, we file suit in Harris County or Travis County, in a venue selected for jury profile and corporate-defendant experience. Discovery opens. Expert reports exchange. Depositions are taken. The case moves toward trial.
Trial: aviation-proven, jury-ready. We try aviation cases with a team that understands the technical record and the human record at the same time. The economic damages model is built on a forensic economist’s worklife and present-value analysis. The non-economic damages are presented through the family’s testimony and the people who knew the decedent best. The corporate-negligence theory is presented through NetJets’ own training records, dispatch records, and SMS data. The punitive exposure, where the evidence supports it, is argued to a Texas jury with the standard the statute requires.
Why our firm is built for this fight
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC, a Texas trial firm. Our principal office is in Houston at 1177 West Loop South, with additional offices in Austin and Beaumont. We have spent 27 years in courtrooms across Texas and in federal court, fighting the same kind of opponent your family is about to face: corporate defendants with $100 million liability towers, elite defense counsel, and a claims machine that moves in hours, not weeks.
Ralph Manginello founded the firm in 2001 after a career that began at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a degree in journalism, and continued at South Texas College of Law Houston, where he earned his J.D. and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1998 (Bar Card #24007597). He is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and has practiced in federal court throughout his career. Before law school, Ralph was a starting point guard on the 1989 New England Prep School championship team at Cheshire Academy and was inducted into the Cheshire Academy Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021. He has recovered more than $50 million for Texas families since 1998, has fought in the BP Texas City refinery explosion litigation, and has built a practice that goes to war against corporate defendants in the worst cases of their lives. He hosts the Attorney 911 Podcast and publishes educational content on the firm’s YouTube channel.
Lupe Peña is a third-generation Texan with family roots in South Texas and the King Ranch. He earned his B.B.A. in International Business from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and his J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston. Before joining our firm, Lupe spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm — sitting in the rooms where claims like yours were priced, where reserves were set, where the playbook was written for how to deny, delay, and devalue families in their first weeks of grief. He knows Colossus-style settlement software. He knows how the adjuster codes the file before the first medical record arrives. He knows what the other side’s playbook looks like because he used to run it. Now he runs it in reverse. Lupe is admitted to federal court, handles interstate and aviation-related litigation, and serves our Spanish-speaking families fully in Spanish. Hablamos Español.
We work on contingency. There is no fee unless we win. The consultation is free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can reach us at 1-888-ATTY-911 or through our contact page. We will travel to Laredo, to Austin, to Houston, or to wherever your family needs to meet.
What to do right now, before the company calls
If you are the spouse, parent, child, or personal representative of someone who was on NetJets flight N523QS on June 16, 2026, here is what you do in the next 24 hours:
- Do not give a recorded statement to anyone from NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, an insurance carrier, or any “claims specialist” who calls. Say: “I am not giving a statement without my attorney present.” Then call us.
- Do not sign anything — no release, no authorization, no “expedited settlement,” no “bereavement agreement.” If a check arrives, do not cash it. Cash and a signature together waive your rights.
- Preserve everything. The decedent’s phone, tablet, laptop — do not unlock, do not reset, do not activate. Save all communications from NetJets, including emails, voicemails, and any condolence packages. Screenshot the FlightRadar24 track. Save any texts, photos, or videos from the day of the flight.
- Do not let the company pick the doctor or the reconstruction expert. Your family gets its own experts, paid for by the case when we win.
- Call us at 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free. We will tell you whether we are the right firm for your case, and if we are not, we will tell you who is. We serve Texas families in English and Spanish.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline to file a wrongful-death lawsuit in Texas after a plane crash?
Two years from the date of death under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(b). The clock starts on the day your loved one died, not the day of the crash. A passenger who survived the impact and died in the hospital weeks later resets the family’s clock to the death date. Two years is not a deadline to watch — it is a deadline to build toward, because the evidence clocks run on a much shorter timeline.
Does the Montreal Convention apply to a NetJets flight?
No. The Montreal Convention applies only to scheduled international commercial air carriage under Part 121. NetJets operates under FAA Part 91 Subpart K — fractional ownership program operations, which are private, non-scheduled flights. That means claims are governed by common-law negligence, federal aviation regulations, and Texas tort statutes, not the treaty’s strict-liability framework. The family has to prove what an airline passenger would receive automatically.
Who can be sued when a NetJets plane crashes?
The defendant map includes NetJets, Inc. (operator liability, vicarious liability for employed pilots, negligent training, dispatch, and entrustment), the pilots-in-command (direct negligence), Textron Aviation (manufacturer of the Citation Latitude), the component manufacturers (Pratt & Whitney, Garmin, Collins, Honeywell if a component failed), the Mexican service providers at SJD (if fueling or ground-handling contributed), and potentially the City of Laredo and TxDOT for any third-party motorist injuries on Loop 20. Each layer has its own insurance tower and its own defense posture, and we pursue every layer that has evidence against it.
How much is a Texas aviation wrongful-death case worth?
It depends on the decedent’s income, age, and family profile, the apportionment of fault, the defendant pool, and the venue. For a NetJets client — typically a high-net-worth individual — lost-earnings calculations can exceed $5 million to $10 million. The case-value range for the wrongful-death claim alone runs from $2.5 million to $25 million or more against a $100 million-plus liability tower. Texas does not cap wrongful-death or survival damages in aviation cases. The five injured passengers have separate personal-injury claims with their own valuations. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
What is the NTSB Party process, and why does it matter?
Under 49 CFR § 831.11, “parties to the investigation” — including the operator, the manufacturer, and the families of fatally injured passengers — may designate representatives, attend investigative hearings, submit proposed questions, receive factual reports, and propose safety recommendations. If the family does not file a § 831.11 request within the first days after the crash, they lose access to the most important discovery process in the case. The investigation proceeds, but the family reads about it in the press instead of being in the room. We file Party requests within five days.
Can a family recover if the pilot was at fault?
Yes. Texas adopted modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar under CPRC § 33.001. If the decedent was 50% or less at fault, recovery is preserved. NetJets is vicariously liable for its employed pilots’ negligence under respondeat superior, and the company is independently liable for negligent training, dispatch, scheduling, and entrustment. Even if the pilots made the final mistake, the corporate defendants can carry the majority of the fault.
What evidence disappears first after a plane crash?
FlightRadar24 data is preserved only on a limited timeline on the free tier. Civilian cell-phone video of the crash scene is deleted by bystanders within weeks. NTSB wreckage is moved to a facility and access is restricted. Pilot records and training files can be “lost” by the company if not formally preserved. The aircraft can be “repaired” or “recovered” by the manufacturer, destroying physical evidence. The preservation letter goes out within the first seven days, and we file the spoliation notice that makes the company legally responsible for every document that disappears after that.
What if NetJets’ insurance company already called and offered money?
Do not accept. Do not cash any check. Do not sign any release. The first offer is always low, and the release will waive every claim your family has against NetJets, Textron, the pilots, the component manufacturers, and every related entity, in every jurisdiction, forever. We have seen cases where the company offered a fraction of the case’s true value before the medical records were complete. Call us before you sign anything, and we will tell you what the case is actually worth.
What if my family does not live in Texas?
The crash happened in Texas, and Texas law governs the wrongful-death claim. We can represent your family wherever you live. We have aviation clients across the country. The two-year statute of limitations under CPRC § 16.003(b) runs from the date of death, and Texas venue is determined by the defendant’s domicile, the injury situs, and the jury profile — not by where the family lives.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing upfront. We work on contingency — you pay no fee unless we win. The consultation is free. We advance the costs of the case (expert witnesses, records, depositions, court filings) and recover those costs out of any settlement or verdict. If we do not win, you owe us nothing. You can review our fee structure on our explanation of contingency fees or call us at 1-888-ATTY-911 to walk through it.
Get help now
If your family was on NetJets flight N523QS, or if you are a NetJets fractional owner or passenger who has been affected by this crash, do not wait for the company to call you back. Call us first. We will tell you what to preserve, what to say, and what not to sign. We will tell you whether we are the right firm for your case, and if we are not, we will tell you who is.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911. Free consultation. No fee unless we win. We serve Texas families in English and Spanish — Hablamos Español. You can also reach us through our contact page or learn more about how we handle aviation and catastrophic-injury cases on our wrongful death practice page. If you have been in any kind of crash and are unsure what to say to an insurance adjuster, our guide on what not to say to an insurance adjuster is essential reading before you pick up the phone.
You can learn more about Ralph Manginello’s background and courtroom experience on his attorney page, and about Lupe Peña’s insurance-defense background on his attorney page. For a broader look at our practice areas, visit our practice overview or our firm homepage.
This page is legal information about Texas aviation law and the Laredo Loop 20 crash of June 16, 2026, not legal advice for any specific case. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. Contacting our firm is free and confidential.