What You Need to Know Right Now If Your Loved One Was on That Loop 20 Flight
If you are reading this, someone you love was on a NetJets Cessna Citation Latitude that came down on Texas State Highway Loop 20 — Bob Bullock Loop — in Laredo on the night of June 16, 2026. One of the six people on board did not come home. Five others are in hospitals. You are dealing with grief, phone calls, paperwork you do not understand, and the slow, awful realization that a corporation the size of Berkshire Hathaway is already building its defense. The next decisions you make will shape the rest of this. We want to give you the truth about what you are facing — the deadlines, the evidence, the laws, the moves the company is about to make — so that you can act from a place of knowledge instead of panic.
Here is what we want you to hold onto in the next ten minutes: Texas gives you two years to file a wrongful-death or survival claim, and that clock runs from the date of death (CPRC § 16.003). The Montreal Convention — an international treaty that applies because the flight originated in Mexico — gives you a separate two-year window and, more importantly, creates a strict-liability floor of roughly 128,821 Special Drawing Rights per passenger that NetJets must pay regardless of fault. The black boxes (the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) will be in NTSB custody within days, and the air traffic control recordings that prove what the crew did and when will be erased in roughly 30 to 60 days. The corporate records that show whether the pilot was rested, whether the aircraft was airworthy, and whether the go/no-go decision was sound can be destroyed on a routine purge cycle if we do not send a preservation letter this week. This is not a case where you wait to see how injured your family member is. This is a case where every week of delay costs you evidence and leverage. The call that protects your family is the one you make now.
What We Know About the June 16, 2026 Laredo NetJets Crash
On Tuesday night, June 16, 2026, at approximately 10:00 p.m. local time, a Cessna Citation Latitude registered N523QS — a tail number inside NetJets’ well-known N5xxQS fractional fleet block — crashed onto Texas State Highway Loop 20, also known as Bob Bullock Loop, in Laredo, Webb County, Texas. The aircraft had departed San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, and was routing to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. For reasons that the National Transportation Safety Board has not yet publicly disclosed, the flight diverted to Laredo International Airport (KLRD) and crashed. One of the six occupants was killed. The other five were transported to Laredo-area hospitals with injuries of unknown severity. A portion of the airframe and jet fuel remained on the roadway into Wednesday morning, requiring an extended closure of Loop 20 in both directions. The FBI, NTSB, Laredo Police Department, and NetJets corporate representatives all engaged the scene. The NTSB has confirmed it is gathering information to launch a formal investigation under 49 U.S.C. § 1131.
That is the public record at this hour. What the public record does not yet show — and what we will be pushing to learn in the next 30 days — is what happened in the cockpit in the minutes before impact, what weather the crew was given, why the diversion to Laredo was chosen over continuing to San Antonio or returning to Mexico, and whether the aircraft itself had a mechanical condition that should have kept it on the ground. Those are the questions that decide liability, and the answers are stored in systems with expiration dates.
The Defendant Map: Who We Are Pursuing and Why
NetJets will tell you, through whoever calls you first, that this was an unforeseeable accident. What they will not tell you is that the corporate structure that surrounds this flight has multiple pockets, and that the law in Texas reaches each of them. Here is the map.
NetJets Aviation, Inc. — the Direct Operator
NetJets Aviation is the Part 135 air carrier that operated N523QS on the night of June 16. Under federal aviation regulations, the carrier is strictly vicariously liable for the negligence of its W-2 employee pilots and crew acting within the scope of employment. That means if the captain made a fuel-planning error, or the first officer failed to call out a configuration warning, or the dispatcher released the flight into weather the company knew was marginal, NetJets pays for it. Period. The flight departed Mexico and was bound for the United States, which means the Montreal Convention imposes an additional layer of strict liability on the carrier regardless of fault, up to roughly 128,821 SDRs per passenger (currently about $170,000+ USD, but adjusted quarterly).
NetJets Holdings and Berkshire Hathaway Affiliates
NetJets is wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Depending on how the corporate structure is documented, the parent and sister entities may share liability under single-business-enterprise, alter-ego, or direct-participation theories — particularly for fleet management decisions, training program oversight, scheduling pressure, and the maintenance-program architecture that governed this aircraft. We will not know whether those theories are viable until we have seen the corporate organization charts, the board-level safety policies, and the maintenance contract structure. But we demand them on day one.
The Pilots Personally
The pilot-in-command and first officer are individually liable for their own negligence. Their exposure is typically tendered to a cockpit-liability insurance policy, but naming them individually serves two purposes: it preserves testimony (they cannot avoid a deposition by hiding behind the corporate defendant), and it creates a separate pressure point on the company’s narrative.
Textron Aviation — the Manufacturer
Textron Aviation manufactures the Cessna Citation Latitude. If the investigation reveals a design, manufacturing, or systems defect — particularly in fuel-system, flight-control, or avionics subsystems — Textron faces product-liability exposure under both strict liability and negligence theories. The General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA, 49 U.S.C. § 40101 note) provides an 18-year statute of repose for general-aviation product claims, so the airframe’s build date versus the crash date matters immediately. We will pull the type certificate data, the airworthiness directives applicable to this serial number, and the service-difficulty reports on this model the moment we are engaged.
Maintenance Provider
If pre-crash mechanical failure is implicated, the NetJets Quality Maintenance organization (or any third-party maintenance provider who touched the aircraft) faces negligent-maintenance liability. Maintenance records are federal-law-required documents; they exist. The question is whether they say what the company says they say.
Ground Victims on Loop 20
Any motorist on Bob Bullock Loop at 10:00 p.m. on June 16, 2026 — and Laredo’s main loop carries a steady flow of commercial and passenger traffic around the clock — who was struck by wreckage, fuel-fed fire, or debris has a direct claim against the operator, the owner, and potentially the manufacturer. These claims are personal-injury or wrongful-death claims under Texas law, and they stack alongside the passenger claims against the same insurance tower.
The NTSB Investigation: What Families Should Expect and How to Get a Seat at the Table
The National Transportation Safety Board has exclusive federal authority over the investigation of this crash under 49 U.S.C. § 1131 and 49 C.F.R. Part 831. That means the wreckage, the flight data recorder (FDR), the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the engine modules, the fuel samples, and the physical components are all under NTSB control — not local law enforcement, not the Webb County Sheriff, not the Laredo Police Department. The FBI is present because the crash involved an international flight, but the FBI’s role is fact-gathering and federal-jurisdiction preservation, not investigation primacy. The NTSB runs the show.
Here is what that means for your family. The NTSB will issue a preliminary report within a few weeks, factual reports over the following months, and a final report with probable cause typically 12 to 18 months after the accident. During that time, the NTSB convenes a “party process” — a structured proceeding in which qualified representatives of substantially interested parties (the operator, the pilot union, the manufacturer, the FAA, the controllers) are granted access to the evidence and the right to submit proposed findings. Families of deceased passengers can apply to be a Party Subject to Other Representatives, which means you designate a representative (typically your aviation attorney) who attends the investigative groups, reviews the documentary evidence, and receives the technical reports as they are developed. The window to apply is short — typically 30 to 90 days after the accident. If you miss it, you read about the investigation in the newspaper instead of helping shape it.
The FDR captures roughly 80 to 100 parameters of aircraft performance in the seconds and minutes before impact: altitude, airspeed, heading, control inputs, engine power settings, autopilot state, configuration warnings. The CVR captures the last two hours of cockpit audio — radio transmissions, crew conversation, system alert tones, the sound of the engines. Together, they are the most important pieces of evidence in the case. They are also the only objective record of what the crew knew and did. We file the party-process application the day you engage us. We do not wait to see if NTSB calls.
Texas Wrongful Death and Survival Law — What Your Family Can Actually Recover
Texas law gives the family of someone killed by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another the right to bring a wrongful-death action under CPRC § 71.002. The claim belongs to the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased (in that statutory order under § 71.004), and it seeks to compensate the family for what they have lost. In parallel, the estate of the deceased can bring a survival action under CPRC § 16.003(b) for the conscious pain and suffering the deceased experienced between injury and death — and for pre-death medical bills, lost wages, and other damages that belong to the person, not the family. These are two separate claims with two separate sets of damages, and the same event can support both.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003(b): “A person may not bring an action to recover damages for death, personal injury, or property damage unless the action is commenced within two years after the day the cause of action accrues. For the purposes of this subsection, a cause of action for personal injury or property damage accrues on the date the injury or damage occurs, and a cause of action for death accrues on the date the death occurs.”
Texas is a modified comparative negligence state with a 51% bar under CPRC § 33.001. That means if a jury finds your family member was 51% or more at fault for his or her own death, the wrongful-death claim is barred entirely. If the deceased was 50% or less at fault, recovery is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the deceased but is not eliminated. In an aircraft case, comparative fault most often arises in two places: the deceased’s own conduct (was he or she intoxicated? did he or she refuse safety briefings?) and the deceased’s employer (was the deceased on a work trip, and did employer negligence contribute?). We will investigate both, because the comparative-fault allocation decides the value of the case.
Texas’s non-economic damage caps have been in legal turmoil for two years. The Texas Supreme Court declared the former caps under § 74.301 facially unconstitutional in LeCroy v. Carrier (2024). The legislature responded with Senate Bill 30, effective September 2025, which reinstated modified caps. The current status of those caps is in flux and should be researched at the time of filing. What this means for your family: at this moment, the cap structure is unsettled, which means the full range of non-economic damages (mental anguish, loss of companionship, pain and suffering) is in play. The cap question is the difference between a six-figure recovery and a seven-figure recovery in many aviation cases.
Texas recognizes joint and several liability only among defendants found more than 50% liable. Defendants at 50% or less pay only their proportionate share. This matters enormously in an aviation case with multiple defendants (operator, manufacturer, maintenance, possibly airport). We name every viable defendant at the outset precisely so that a future jury finding against one defendant does not leave your family holding the loss. If NetJets is 30% at fault and Textron is 25% and a maintenance provider is 25%, the proportionate-share rule means the family collects proportionally from each — unless the conduct rises to a level that triggers joint and several, which we will argue aggressively where the facts support it.
The Montreal Convention: Why the Mexican Origin Flight Changes Everything
This flight departed San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, and was bound for Austin, Texas. Under international aviation law, that makes it international carriage subject to the Montreal Convention of 1999, the treaty that governs liability for international air transportation. The Convention is critical for your family for three reasons.
First, the Convention imposes strict liability on the carrier (NetJets) for death or bodily injury of a passenger up to 128,821 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) per passenger, regardless of fault. SDRs are an international reserve asset defined by the IMF; the dollar value floats but is currently in the neighborhood of $170,000+ per passenger. That is the floor — the amount NetJets owes your family without you having to prove a thing. The carrier is liable up to that limit even if the crash was caused by an act of God, a third party, or an unforeseeable mechanical failure. There is no comparative fault, no “but the pilot was experienced,” no “but the weather was bad” — up to 128,821 SDRs, NetJets pays.
Second, beyond the SDR cap, the carrier is liable for the full amount of damages unless it can prove that the death or injury was not due to the negligence or other wrongful act of the carrier, its servants, or its agents — or that the death or injury was solely due to the negligence or other wrongful act of a third party. The burden flips to NetJets. They have to disprove fault, not the family proving it. That is a major procedural advantage.
Third, the Convention provides a two-year limitation period for bringing claims, running from the date of arrival at destination, the date on which the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date on which the carriage stopped. This is a separate, international two-year clock that runs alongside (not instead of) the Texas CPRC § 16.003 two-year clock. We monitor both. Missing either one bars the claim.
The Convention also means that Mexican evidence is part of the case in a way it would not be in a purely domestic flight. The records of the FBO at San Jose del Cabo where the aircraft was fueled, the Mexican ATC (SENEAM/AFAC) recordings of the en-route portion of the flight, the passenger boarding records, the weight-and-balance calculations, and the pre-flight inspection logs all live in Mexico. Mexican records retention is governed by Mexican aviation regulations and by the bilateral arrangements between the United States and Mexico. They can disappear faster than U.S. records. We send preservation requests to the FBO, to SENEAM, and to the Mexican civil aviation authority (AFAC) within the first two weeks.
The Evidence Clock: What Exists, Who Holds It, and How Fast It Dies
Aviation cases are won or lost on evidence, and aviation evidence has a half-life measured in days and weeks, not months. Here is the inventory, the holder, and the expiration date for the records that decide this case.
- Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR): NTSB custody within 24 to 72 hours. The only objective record of aircraft performance and crew action. We apply for party-process access immediately so we receive the data downloads and the CVR transcript when NTSB releases them.
- Air Traffic Control (ATC) recordings and radar data: U.S. ATC retains data approximately 30 to 60 days. Mexican en-route (SENEAM) retention may be shorter. We request preservation of Laredo approach/departure recordings, Houston Center (ZHU) recordings if the flight was in Houston Center airspace, and the SENEAM en-route recordings within the first 48 hours. If the Mexican records are not preserved now, they are gone.
- NetJets flight-release, dispatch, and weather-briefing records: Held by NetJets corporate. Subject to routine corporate retention purges. We send a litigation-hold letter within seven days. If the company did not preserve them, the court can impose sanctions — but only if we put them on notice now.
- Pilot and First Officer records — qualifications, training, rest, duty time, medical, prior incidents: Held by NetJets and by the pilots personally. Subject to 14 to 30 day purge risk on the personal side. Preservation letter to NetJets within 14 days, and we also serve litigation-hold subpoenas on the individual pilots through their counsel once identified.
- NetJets Quality Maintenance and Inspection records for N523QS: Held by NetJets. Same 14 to 30 day corporate purge risk. We demand the complete maintenance file, the airworthiness-directive compliance log, the recurring-squawk history, and the last 12 months of inspection reports.
- FlightRadar24 / ADS-B archived track and ACARS / SatCom messages: Public-flight-track data is freely available but should be downloaded and authenticated before any platform redactions or account changes. We capture within 48 hours. ACARS messages (data-link communications between aircraft and ground) require a separate preservation request to NetJets and to the ACARS service provider.
- Wreckage, fuel samples, and recovered components: NTSB custody. Released after the Part 831 final report. We apply for party status to monitor the wreckage examination and to submit questions to the NTSB investigators.
- Laredo Police Department bodycam, dashcam, witness statements, and 911 audio: Texas Public Information Act response window is 10 business days. We file the PIA request within 10 days of the crash.
- Loop 20 TxDOT traffic-camera footage and adjacent business surveillance: Most commercial surveillance systems overwrite in 7 to 30 days. We send preservation letters to TxDOT (Loop 20 cameras) and to the businesses adjacent to the crash site within 48 hours. If a business owner says “we already erased it,” we want to know that now, not at mediation.
- Hospital records for the five survivors: Obtained via medical-authorization form or subpoena. We engage the survivor families within the first 30 days for authorizations. The injury documentation from the first 72 hours of care is often the most important medical evidence in the case — it captures the injuries at their most severe, before rehabilitation has begun.
- San Jose del Cabo FBO, fueling, and passenger-boarding records: Held by the FBO in Mexico and by NetJets’ Mexico operations. Mexican records retention rules apply. We send a preservation request through both the FBO and NetJets’ Mexico counsel within the first two weeks.
- Berkshire Hathaway excess/umbrella policy identification: Discovered in the initial 30(b)(6) deposition of NetJets’ corporate representative. Not immediately urgent but flagged for the first discovery plan. The policy tower above NetJets’ primary is what makes a full recovery possible in a multi-victim case.
The Insurance Playbook: What NetJets Is Going to Do in the Next 30 Days
NetJets is not your adversary in the way a single car driver would be. NetJets is a Berkshire Hathaway company with an in-house claims unit, captive outside counsel, and a process for handling aviation losses that has been refined over decades. They will be friendly. They will be quick. They will also be working a playbook that begins the day after the crash. Here is what we expect, and here is the counter to each move.
Play 1: The Sympathy Call
Within 24 to 72 hours of the crash, a NetJets representative — sometimes a claims adjuster, sometimes a “family liaison” — will call the spouse, the parent, the adult child of each victim. The call will be warm. The representative will express sorrow, offer immediate logistical help (travel, hotel, meals), and ask a series of questions that are designed to elicit a recorded statement or, failing that, to anchor the family in a narrative that minimizes NetJets’ exposure. The questions will be soft — “Can you tell me about your loved one?” “What was the last conversation you had?” — but each answer becomes part of NetJets’ claims file. The counter: decline the call, accept only written confirmation of logistical help (and only with a written disclaimer that acceptance does not constitute a release), and direct all further communication through your attorney. You do not owe them a conversation. You owe them nothing.
Play 2: The Quick Assistance Check
Within the first week, NetJets will often deliver a check — sometimes a substantial one — labeled as “immediate assistance,” “travel reimbursement,” or “ex gratia payment.” The check will arrive with a release printed on the back or attached as a separate document. Signing the release, or even cashing the check in some jurisdictions, can be argued to waive certain claims. The counter: do not sign anything, do not cash any check, and ask your attorney to evaluate any document NetJets sends before you touch it. If you need emergency funds because a family member traveled to Laredo and cannot afford the hotel, tell your attorney. There are ways to handle immediate needs that do not compromise the case.
Play 3: The Company-Approved Medical Provider
For the five injured survivors, NetJets will often recommend a specific medical team, a specific rehabilitation facility, or a specific counseling service. These providers are not always independent — they may have ongoing relationships with the carrier’s claims operation, may document in a way that favors the defense narrative, and may reach maximum-medical-improvement determinations that lock in low damage values. The counter: choose your own treating physicians and your own rehabilitation team. In Texas, you have the right to be treated by the providers you trust. The case value turns on the quality and completeness of the medical record; you want that record built by physicians who work for you, not for the company that crashed the plane.
Play 4: The Forum Non Conveniens Motion
NetJets will likely file a motion to transfer venue away from Webb County — arguing that Austin (Travis County), San Antonio (Bexar County), or federal court in Columbus, Ohio, is more convenient. The motivation is not convenience; it is jury composition. Webb County juries are working-class, predominantly Hispanic, and historically receptive to corporate-defendant cases. A Webb County jury that just watched a NetJets plane crash on its main loop highway is a jury that will hold the company accountable. The counter: we will fight venue aggressively, emphasizing the crash situs, the convenience of Webb County witnesses, the location of the wreckage and the physical evidence, and the residence of Texas-resident plaintiffs. The Texas venue statutes (CPRC § 15.014) and the case law on forum non conveniens give us solid grounds to keep the case where it happened.
Play 5: The NTSB Cooperation Narrative
NetJets will publicly commit to full cooperation with the NTSB investigation. That commitment is real, but it is also strategic. The carrier uses its NTSB cooperation to shape the public narrative (“we are doing everything we can to find out what happened”) and to slow-walk the release of internal documents (“we cannot share that until the NTSB report is final”). The counter: we do not wait for the NTSB. We issue our own preservation letters, we file a Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 202 pre-suit petition to depose key corporate representatives under oath, and we obtain documentary discovery independently of the NTSB timeline.
Damages: What This Case Is Actually Worth
We will not quote you a number on this page, and any lawyer who does is either guessing or making a promise. What we will do is walk you through the categories of damages Texas law recognizes in a wrongful-death and survival case so you understand what we are fighting for.
Economic damages (uncapped in Texas): These are the dollars with receipts. Lost earnings from the date of death forward. Lost earning capacity — what your loved one would have earned over a working life. Lost household services — the value of the childcare, the home maintenance, the caregiving that your loved one provided and that now has to be purchased. Funeral and burial expenses. Lost inheritance — what your loved one would have accumulated and passed on. These are calculated by an economist using the decedent’s work history, education, age, life expectancy, and the consumption-versus-savings patterns of the family.
Non-economic damages (subject to the cap flux discussed above): Mental anguish — the grief, the loss, the emotional devastation that is not measured in dollars but that Texas law recognizes as compensable. Loss of companionship and society — the loss of the relationship itself, the everyday presence of the person you loved. Loss of parental guidance for the children of the deceased. Pain and suffering of the decedent between injury and death, which is the survival claim and which can be substantial if the death was not instantaneous. Loss of consortium for the surviving spouse.
Punitive damages (capped in Texas): Texas allows punitive damages only on a gross-negligence or malice theory — conduct that involves an extreme degree of risk, conscious indifference to the rights or safety of others, or intentional wrongful conduct. Even when proven, Texas caps punitive damages at the greater of $200,000 or two times the economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000. Punitive damages in aviation cases are rare, but where the facts support them — a known-fatigued pilot sent on a red-eye, an unaddressed maintenance defect, a falsified logbook — they are devastating.
The Montreal Convention strict-liability floor: As described above, NetJets owes at least 128,821 SDRs per passenger regardless of fault. That is the floor, not the ceiling.
For a single fatality involving a working-age adult with dependents and significant future earnings, wrongful-death verdicts against deep-pocketed Part 135 operators typically resolve in the $5 million to $25 million range, with high-end cases reaching higher. For the five survivors, each catastrophic-injury claim (traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, severe burns, amputation) individually ranges from $2 million to $20 million or more depending on severity and long-term care needs. Aggregate exposure across six victims and any ground claimants on Loop 20 can reach $80 million or higher, which is why the NetJets policy tower (typically $100 million to $1 billion) is the entire fight.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. Our firm has recovered more than $50 million for Texas families since 1998, including a $5 million brain-injury settlement, a $3.8 million amputation settlement, and a $2.5 million truck-crash recovery. We state those results because they are the firm’s documented record; we cannot tell you what your case will recover, because we do not yet know the facts of what your family has lost.
What to Do Right Now: The First 30 Days
If your family is in the first 30 days after this crash, you are in the window that decides the case. Here is what we will do with you the day you call, and here is what we need you to do today.
Today. Decline any recorded statement to NetJets, to any insurance company, or to any investigator. Accept only emergency logistical help from NetJets, and only with a written confirmation that acceptance is not a release. Begin a journal — dates, times, names, what you were told, what you signed or did not sign, who you spoke to and when. Save every text, every email, every voicemail. Take photographs of any documents NetJets or anyone else sends.
This week. We file the NTSB party-process application on your behalf. We send litigation-hold letters to NetJets, to KLRD, to the San Jose del Cabo FBO, to SENEAM (Mexican ATC), to TxDOT (Loop 20 cameras), to the Laredo Police Department (bodycam, witness statements, 911 audio), and to the businesses adjacent to the crash site. We pull the FlightRadar24 track and the ADS-B data. We file the Texas Public Information Act request with the Laredo Police Department. We begin identifying the relevant experts — a Citation Latitude type-rated pilot, an air-traffic-control expert, a fuel-systems expert, a human-factors expert, a meteorologist, and a forensic pathologist for the wrongful-death claim.
This month. We engage the survivor families for medical authorizations. We obtain the hospital records and the EMS records. We identify and interview witnesses on Loop 20. We pull the FAA airworthiness directives and the service-difficulty reports for this Cessna Citation Latitude serial number. We obtain the pilot and first officer’s FAA records (a Freedom of Information Act request to the FAA’s Civil Aeromedical Institute for the medical records; a separate request for the airmen certification records). We file a Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 202 pre-suit petition to depose key NetJets corporate representatives and to obtain documentary discovery before the two-year deadline runs.
The first 90 days. The NTSB issues its preliminary report. We analyze the preliminary report against the evidence we have independently gathered and identify the gaps. We retain our aviation experts and begin the formal expert review. We coordinate with the other passenger families — there are five survivor families and one deceased passenger’s family, and a joint-prosecution structure shares costs, avoids inconsistent theories, and maximizes aggregate policy recovery. We prepare and serve the Stowers-style policy-limits demand letter that puts NetJets and its primary insurer on notice that the policy limits may be exposed.
Why This Firm: The Reach and the Record
This is a Texas case, and our firm is a Texas firm. Ralph Manginello has spent 27+ years in courtrooms, including federal court, fighting corporations the size of mountains. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer, and he explains the way the case actually works instead of the way a brochure says it works. He is admitted to the State Bar of Texas (Bar Card #24007597) and to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and he is the founding partner of Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. Our firm has been involved in the BP Texas City refinery explosion litigation, has recovered more than $50 million for Texas families since 1998, and has tried cases in venues across the state. Ralph can be reached through his attorney page on our site.
Lupe Peña is a former insurance-defense attorney who spent years inside a national defense firm — the rooms where adjusters, claims software, and captive counsel decide how to value (and how to devalue) claims exactly like yours. He knows the playbook because he ran it from the other side of the table. He is fully bilingual, and he represents families in Spanish as fluently as he does in English. He is admitted to practice in federal court. He has recovered millions for clients in wrongful-death, dram-shop, trucking, and serious-injury cases. His background matters in this case specifically because the insurance playbook we describe in this page is the playbook he used to work from the inside. Lupe can be reached through his attorney page.
Our offices are in Houston (1177 West Loop South, Suite 1600), Austin, and Beaumont. From Houston, we are within practical reach of Laredo, San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley, and every other venue in South Texas. From Austin, we are within an hour of KLRD’s intended destination. The firm’s geographic reach matches the geographic spread of this case.
We handle this case on a contingency fee: no fee unless we win. The consultation is free, it is confidential, and it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-888-ATTY-911. If Spanish is your preferred language, we serve you fully in Spanish. Hablamos Español.
The Practical Questions Families Are Asking Right Now
Do I have to talk to NetJets’ insurance company?
No. You are not required to give a recorded statement, to sign a release, or to accept any check from NetJets or its insurer. Politely decline, refer them to your attorney, and write down the date, time, and name of whoever called. The calls will not stop. Your silence is your protection.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit?
Under Texas law, you have two years from the date of death to file a wrongful-death claim (CPRC § 16.003), and two years from the date of death to file a survival claim for the decedent’s pre-death damages (CPRC § 16.003(b)). The Montreal Convention provides a separate two-year limitation period running from arrival at destination, the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date the carriage stopped. We monitor both clocks. The deadline is not the same as the urgency — the evidence disappears long before the deadline arrives, and the strongest cases are built in the first 90 days, not the last 90.
What if my loved one was a passenger on Loop 20 — not on the plane — when the crash happened?
You have a Texas personal-injury or wrongful-death claim against NetJets (and potentially the manufacturer, the maintenance provider, and the airport operator). The same two-year Texas deadline applies. The same preservation rules apply — TxDOT Loop 20 cameras, adjacent business surveillance, Laredo PD bodycam. We pursue these claims with the same intensity as the passenger claims.
What if my family member survived but is still in the hospital?
The medical decisions you make in the next 30 to 60 days directly affect the value of the case. Choose the treating physicians and the rehabilitation team that you trust, not the providers NetJets recommends. Document everything — every diagnosis, every procedure, every setback, every therapy session. We help you navigate the medical system, identify the right specialists, and coordinate the documentation that the case will need. We also connect families with the resources for air-medical transport to a Level I trauma center in San Antonio (University Hospital, Methodist) or Houston (Memorial Hermann) when the local facility is not the right setting for the injury.
Is NetJets actually insured for this?
Yes. NetJets carries substantial hull and liability insurance, with operator liability limits typically ranging from $100 million to $1 billion depending on the policy tier and the federal Aviation Insurance Program backstop. The exact coverage stack is discovered in the 30(b)(6) deposition of NetJets’ corporate representative, but the practical answer is that there is real money behind this defendant. That is why we name NetJets and the Berkshire Hathaway affiliates — the policy tower is the ceiling on the case value, and the ceiling is high.
Why does the Mexican origin of the flight matter?
Because the flight departed Mexico and was bound for the United States, it is international carriage under the Montreal Convention. That gives your family the strict-liability floor of 128,821 SDRs per passenger (roughly $170,000+ USD, adjusted quarterly), the burden-shift onto NetJets to disprove fault for damages above that floor, and a separate two-year limitation period. It also means the case involves Mexican evidence (FBO records, SENEAM ATC recordings, passenger boarding records) that we must preserve immediately through the FBO, through NetJets’ Mexico counsel, and through the Mexican civil aviation authority (AFAC).
Will the case settle, or will it go to trial?
Most aviation cases resolve before trial, but the cases that resolve for the right number are the cases where the defense believes the plaintiff is fully prepared to try the case. We prepare every case as if it will be tried in a Webb County courtroom. Mediation typically occurs 18 to 22 months after the crash, after the NTSB has issued its factual report and our experts have completed their review. The mediation is most successful when our experts are deposed, when the NTSB’s probable-cause findings support our theory of the case, and when NetJets understands that the alternative to a fair settlement is a Webb County jury hearing the evidence in full.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. We handle aviation cases on a contingency fee — you pay no attorney fee unless we recover for you. The free consultation is confidential, can be scheduled 24 hours a day at 1-888-ATTY-911, and is available in English or in Spanish. If we are not the right firm for your case, we will tell you that and refer you to someone who is. We do not chase cases we cannot handle well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly happened on Loop 20 on June 16, 2026?
A Cessna Citation Latitude registered N523QS, operated by NetJets, crashed onto Texas State Highway Loop 20 (Bob Bullock Loop) in Laredo, Webb County, Texas, at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. The aircraft had departed San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, was routing to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and diverted to Laredo International Airport (KLRD) for reasons not yet publicly disclosed. One of the six occupants was killed. The other five were transported to local hospitals with injuries of unknown severity. The NTSB has launched a formal investigation.
Who is legally responsible for the crash?
Multiple parties are potentially liable. NetJets Aviation, Inc. is the direct Part 135 operator and is vicariously liable for the negligence of its employee pilots and crew. NetJets Holdings and Berkshire Hathaway affiliates may share liability under parent-entity theories. The pilots are individually liable for their own negligence. Textron Aviation (the manufacturer of the Citation Latitude) faces potential product-liability exposure if a mechanical or design defect is implicated. The maintenance provider is liable if negligent maintenance contributed. The Laredo airport and the City of Laredo face limited potential liability for airport-operations issues. And any motorists on Loop 20 struck by wreckage or fire have direct claims against the operator.
What is the NTSB, and what does the party process mean for my family?
The National Transportation Safety Board is the federal agency with exclusive authority to investigate aviation accidents under 49 U.S.C. § 1131. The “party process” is a structured proceeding in which qualified representatives of substantially interested parties (operator, manufacturer, pilots, FAA, controllers) are granted access to the investigation. Families of deceased passengers can apply to be a “Party Subject to Other Representatives,” which means your attorney attends the investigative groups, reviews the evidence, and receives the technical reports. The window to apply is 30 to 90 days after the accident.
What is the Montreal Convention, and how does it help my case?
The Montreal Convention of 1999 is the international treaty that governs liability for international air transportation. Because the flight originated in Mexico and was bound for the United States, the Convention applies. It imposes strict liability on NetJets for death or bodily injury up to 128,821 SDRs per passenger (roughly $170,000+ USD) regardless of fault, shifts the burden to NetJets to disprove negligence above that floor, and provides a two-year limitation period for claims.
How long do I have to file a wrongful-death claim in Texas?
Two years from the date of death, under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. The Montreal Convention provides a separate two-year limitation period that may run from a different triggering date. We monitor both clocks and begin the preservation and investigation work immediately so that the deadline is a formality, not a crisis.
What damages can my family recover?
Texas recognizes economic damages (lost earnings, lost earning capacity, lost household services, funeral expenses, lost inheritance), non-economic damages (mental anguish, loss of companionship, loss of parental guidance, pain and suffering of the decedent before death), and in narrow circumstances punitive damages (capped under Texas law). The Montreal Convention provides a strict-liability floor of approximately 128,821 SDRs per passenger regardless of fault. For a single fatality involving a working-age adult with dependents, the realistic range is $5 million to $25 million, with higher-end cases reaching above that. For the five surviving passengers with catastrophic injuries, individual values can reach $2 million to $20 million or more.
What if my loved one was partly at fault?
Texas follows modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar under CPRC § 33.001. If your loved one was 50% or less at fault, the recovery is reduced by the percentage of fault but is not eliminated. If your loved one was 51% or more at fault, the claim is barred entirely. In an aircraft case, comparative fault most often arises from the conduct of the deceased passenger or from the conduct of a deceased worker’s employer. We investigate both dimensions. For the broader principle of comparative fault in personal-injury cases, see our guide on partial fault.
What is the value of the case if my family member is a survivor with serious injuries?
It depends on the injuries. Traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, severe burns, and amputation are the categories that drive the highest case values, often in the $2 million to $20 million-plus range individually depending on severity, long-term care needs, and the patient’s age. Mild-to-moderate injuries resolve for less. We will not know the value of your case until we have seen the full medical record and the long-term prognosis. The medical record is built by the physicians you choose in the first 60 to 90 days. For a deeper look at brain-injury cases specifically, our brain-injury lawsuit guide walks through the proof problem in detail.
What should I do if NetJets contacts me?
Decline the call. Accept only emergency logistical help, and only with a written confirmation that acceptance is not a release. Direct all further communication to your attorney. Do not give a recorded statement. Do not sign anything. Do not cash any check. Write down the date, time, and name of whoever called. Save every text, email, and voicemail. For the broader principle of what to say (and not say) to insurance adjusters, our guide on adjuster conversations applies to aviation claims as directly as it does to trucking claims.
How long will the case take?
Most aviation cases resolve 18 to 36 months after the accident. The NTSB investigation itself typically takes 12 to 18 months. We file a Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 202 pre-suit petition early so that discovery is not waiting on the NTSB. Mediation is typically scheduled 18 to 22 months after the crash. Cases that do not resolve at mediation proceed to trial, which can add another 6 to 18 months. The cases that resolve fastest are the cases where the evidence is preserved immediately and the defense understands that the plaintiff is fully prepared to try the case in Webb County.
What if I live outside Texas?
You can still bring a Texas wrongful-death claim if the crash occurred in Texas. We handle aviation cases for families across the country when the crash situs is Texas. For out-of-state families, we coordinate through local counsel of your choice or, where appropriate, handle the case directly from our Texas offices. Many of our clients are not Texas residents; venue and representation are decisions we walk through with you in the first consultation.
Why hire Attorney911 for an aviation case instead of a national aviation firm?
Because this is a Texas case, and the venue, the jury, the witnesses, the evidence, the law, and the local dynamics are all Texas. Our firm is a Texas firm with 27+ years of courtroom experience in the state, federal-court admission, a documented record of multi-million-dollar recoveries, and an insurance-defense insider (Lupe Peña) who has run the playbook you are up against. A national aviation firm will associate with local Texas counsel anyway. We are the local Texas counsel. We handle this case the way it has to be handled — in the courtroom where it will be tried.
If You Are Ready to Talk
If your family is in the first hours or first weeks after this crash, the most important thing you can do is talk to a lawyer before you talk to NetJets, before you sign anything, and before the evidence starts to age out. The consultation is free, it is confidential, and it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 1-888-ATTY-911. If you prefer to start with an online inquiry, our contact page reaches us directly, and if you would like to read more about how we approach serious-injury cases, our wrongful-death practice page and our brain-injury practice page walk through the medical, legal, and proof problems in detail. If you are Spanish-speaking, we serve you fully in Spanish. Hablamos Español.
You do not have to make every decision today. But you do have to make the first decision today. The first decision is who you trust to stand between your family and the most sophisticated claims operation in American aviation. We are ready when you are.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. The information on this page is general legal information about Texas aviation-accident claims, the Montreal Convention, and the NTSB process, and is not legal advice for any specific case. The procedural posture, the applicable law, and the value of any specific case depend on facts that we cannot evaluate without a direct consultation.