{"id":344022,"date":"2026-06-20T13:02:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/344022\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:02:33","slug":"austin-tech-leader-joshua-baer-identified-as-victim-of-texas-plane-crash-after-jet-caught-fire-along-highway-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/344022\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin tech leader Joshua Baer identified as victim of Texas plane crash after jet caught fire along highway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Capital Factory founder and Austin tech leader Joshua Baer has been identified as the person killed in a business jet crash along a highway in Laredo, Texas,<\/a> on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

The plane was carrying six people when it crashed on Loop 20 in Laredo, Texas<\/a>, shortly after 10 p.m., according to Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San Jos\u00e9 del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Bryan Chambers, the president of the software accelerator and investment company, told the Austin American-Statesman<\/a> that \u201cJoshua was a fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us,\u201d and, \u201cWhile we are devastated by this unimaginable loss, Josh built an incredibly resilient organization and team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCapital Factory remains fully operational, and we are completely committed to continuing his mission of backing unstoppable founders,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

SMALL PLANE CRASHES NEAR HICKS AIRFIELD IN TEXAS, REPORTEDLY CAUSING MULTIPLE SEMI-TRUCK FIRES<\/a><\/p>\n

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.<\/p>\n

The pilot, while radioing air traffic controllers, \u201cmentioned low fuel and a power outage,\u201d Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez said, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had mechanical issues, and they lost communication with the tower,\u201d Sanchez said Wednesday, \u201cand that\u2019s when the accident happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baeza also said a vehicle was struck by the aircraft. The person in that car was sent to a hospital in stable condition, the AP reported.<\/p>\n

Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side and smashed into a highway barrier as the tail was ripped from the fuselage.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,<\/a> said Wednesday that he and his wife Heidi were \u201cdeeply saddened by the passing of Josh Baer and the tragic plane crash in Laredo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh has been one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America. In Texas, he made our state a global leader. His impact was incalculable,\u201d Cruz wrote on X. \u201cOur prayers are with his family and the others aboard the aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n

MISSOURI SKYDIVING PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 12 ABOARD IS A \u2018DEVASTATING LOSS,\u2019 COMPANY SAYS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJosh was an innovative\u00a0and\u00a0creative leader in Austin\u2019s entrepreneurial culture and a\u00a0stalwart\u00a0supporter of growing Central Texas\u2019 military ecosystem,\u201d added Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.<\/a><\/p>\n

Authorities initially did not report serious injuries on the ground, though five responding officers were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation, <\/a>according to Baeza. Loop 20 also was temporarily closed after the crash, Baeza added.<\/p>\n

NetJets said in a statement that the crash involved one of its planes. The company said it is working with authorities.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital has reached out to Capital Factory for comment.<\/p>\n

The University of Texas at Austin<\/a> said Baer lived in Austin with his wife and three children.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt UT Austin, Josh co-teaches the Longhorn Startup Seminar and Lab,\u201d it said in a biography of him on its website. \u201cHe also acts as the Entrepreneur in Residence for the Department of Computer Science.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Capital Factory founder and Austin tech leader Joshua Baer has been identified as the person killed in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-344022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}