Dramatic rescue efforts after fiery small plane crash in Texas kills 1

A business jet with six people on board crashed on a highway in Laredo, Texas, and caught fire Tuesday night, authorities said, killing one person and causing chaos as people left their vehicles to frantically try to smash the cockpit window and free those inside.

Drivers who came upon the burning plane, which was nearly sheared in half and tipped on its side, captured dramatic rescue scenes on video or rushed toward the aircraft on foot to help. Two people came running with a sledgehammer and shovel they used to strike the cockpit glass and try propping open the plane's door.

The plane crashed on the Loop 20 highway near the Texas-Mexico border shortly after 10 p.m., said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. Laredo is some 140 miles southwest of San Antonio.

Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez told CBS News in a statement that the airport got an alert at 9:58 p.m. local time saying a Cessna Citation was experiencing mechanical issues and was low on fuel.

He said it lost communication with the tower and crash-landed a few minutes later, a few miles from the airport.

One of those on the plane was pronounced dead at the scene, Sanchez said, and the other five were taken to local hospitals and were reported to be in stable condition.

The National Transportation Safety board said in a statement that it "is aware of the plane crash and is currently gathering information."

Dashcam footage posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop. It came to a rest not far from the Laredo International Airport.

"It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock," said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.

No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier. The tail was ripped from the fuselage and laying mostly intact on a lower-level road beneath where the rescue was taking place.

Garza began shooting video as she approached the scene and then stopped her vehicle across from the crippled jet, which was on fire.

She saw someone inside the plane trying to break the cockpit window to escape. Soon, people got out of their vehicles to try to smash the window from the outside as the fire on the fuselage continued to burn.

Garza's husband jumped out of their vehicle to help and Garza then saw the door of the plane open. She said three peop