The Scissortail Brief | June 15–21, 2026

This week, a NetJets Citation Latitude crashed onto a Laredo highway returning from Mexico, killing Austin tech founder Joshua Baer in what appears to be the first fatal accident in the history of fractional aviation. There was other significant news: the Falcon 10X flew for the first time, NetJets separately asked the FAA to extend crew duty limits on its Global 7500 and 8000, AeroVanti's founder was convicted on six counts of wire fraud, Global Jet Capital raised $659 million in a business jet securitization, and fuel prices are finally moving in the right direction following the Iran deal signing in Geneva.

Accident: NetJets Citation Latitude Crashes on Loop 20 in Laredo

On the night of June 16, a NetJets Cessna Citation Latitude, registration N523QS, crashed onto Loop 20 in Laredo, Texas, approximately 2.5 miles short of Laredo International Airport. One of the six people aboard was killed.

The aircraft had departed San José del Cabo, Mexico at approximately 6:18 p.m. local time bound for Austin-Bergstrom. Somewhere en route, the crew declared an emergency at 41,000 feet, diverted toward Laredo, and reported to ATC at approximately 9:55 p.m. that they were experiencing low fuel and a power outage. Flight tracking data shows the aircraft descending in a controlled manner toward the airport before the ADS-B signal disappeared at roughly 600 feet. The jet came down on Loop 20, struck a vehicle, broke apart, and caught fire, though not to the degree you’d expect if the amount of fuel required to reach its intended destination had been onboard. The tail separated from the fuselage. The aircraft came to rest on its side.

Six people were aboard: two pilots and four passengers, including three teenagers. Bystanders who witnessed the crash stopped their vehicles, broke the cockpit window with sledgehammers and shovels, and pulled survivors from the wreckage. A firefighter entered the aircraft to retrieve the last person inside. Five police officers were treated and released for smoke inhalation. The driver of the vehicle struck by the aircraft was hospitalized in stable condition.

The passenger who did not survive has been identified as Joshua Baer, 50, founder and CEO of Capital Factory, the Austin-based startup accelerator and venture fund he built into the most active tech investor in Texas by PitchBook's count. Baer founded Capital Factory in 2009 alongside Sam Decker and Bryan Menell after earlier exits from Skylist and OtherInbox. He had helped bring the U.S. Army Futures Command to Austin and built a Center for Defense Innovation connecting startup founders with defense and intelligence agencies. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz called his impact "incalculable." Capital Factory has asked for privacy for the Baer family and will not comment while the investigation is active. One of the three teenage passengers on board was Baer's son, Noah, who survived.

The NTSB is leading the investigation. NTSB air safety investigator Mitchell Gallo confirmed at a press conference in Laredo on Thursday that investigators are documenting the wreckage, interviewing the pilots, and have recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which have been sent to Washington for analysis. Gallo said: "We need to collect the basic data and kind of funnel it to a tighter scope. In my view, right now there is nothing that we can point to at this time." A preliminary report is expected within approximately 15 days of the crash.

What investigators are looking at is a question that runs through the whole sequence. The Citation Latitude has a maximum range of approximately 2,700 nautical miles. The flight from San José del Cabo to Austin is roughly 1,200 nautical miles, comfortably within the aircraft's capability with standard reserves. The crew reported low fuel and a power outage. The Laredo airport director confirmed both items were communicated to ATC. Whether those were two separate issues, causally related, or whether one caused the other, is what the FDR and CVR data will begin to answer. Laredo International has two north-south runways. ADS-B track data shows the aircraft aligned with the runway before the signal dropped at 600 feet, approximately 2.5 miles short. It didn't reach the runway.

NetJets operates more than 250 Citation Latitude aircraft and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The company confirmed the aircraft was part of its fleet and stated: "Our immediate concern is for the well-being of our Crewmembers, our passengers, and their families during this time." The company is cooperating with investigators.

This appears to be the first fatal accident in NetJets' history, and by extension the first fatal crash of a fractional aircraft operation on record. AIN Online confirmed the accident "marks the first frax fatality." The fractional model, now more than 30 years old since NetJets pioneered it under Richard Santulli in the 1980s, had maintained a fatal-accident-free operational record through this flight.

The investigation will take up to two years for a final report. The preliminary report, due in approximately two weeks, will establish the basic factual sequence without assigning probable cause.

Our condolences to the Baer family, the Capital Factory community, and the Texas tech ecosystem that Joshua Baer spent his career building.

OEM: Dassault's Falcon 10X Makes Its First Flight

On June 19, Dassault Aviation flew the Falcon 10X for the first time. Test pilot Sébastien Dupont de Dinechin and copilot Fabrice Dougnac departed runway 23 at Bordeaux-Mérignac at 11:10 a.m. and flew for two hours and 30 minutes, evaluating handling qualities and systems at 15,000 feet before climbing to 40,000 feet and reaching Mach 0.82. No anomalies were reported. The aircraft landed at 1:40 p.m.

The 10X is a clean-sheet design. New fuselage, new wing, new digital flight control system, twin Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X engines producing more than 18,000 pounds of thrust each. It's the only completely new business jet that flew in 2026. Dassault says it's also the only aircraft manufacturer in the world with a new aircraft in flight this year.

The cabin is where the 10X makes its case. At 9 feet 1 inch wide and 6 feet 8 inches tall, it claims the largest cross-section of any business jet, edging out the Gulfstream G700 at 8 feet 2 inches. Maximum range is 7,500 nautical miles and top speed is Mach 0.925. Two additional test aircraft are in the program: a second nearing completion, and a third fitted with a full interior for systems, cabin function, and reliability testing.

Service entry is targeted for late 2027 at a price estimated around $75 million, in the same range as the Gulfstream G800 and Bombardier Global 8000. On certain ultra-long legs the 500 nautical mile range shortfall relative to the Global 8000 will show, so Dassault will lean on cabin volume and economics as its competitive angle.

For owners of older large-cabin Falcons, the 10X first flight gives the used market a new forward reference point. Buyers who've been waiting on the program now have a more concrete certification timeline to work against.

Operations: NetJets Asks FAA to Extend Crew Duty Limits on Global 7500 and 8000

On June 12, NetJets filed a petition with the FAA requesting an exemption from portions of 14 CFR 135.269, the Part 135 flight time and duty rules covering unscheduled three- and four-pilot crew operations. The comment window closes July 2.

Under current rules, four-pilot crews are limited to 20 duty hours in a 24-hour period and 16 hours aloft. NetJets is asking for authorization to fly its Global 7500 and 8000 to the aircraft's full endurance of 16-17 hours, and to extend the maximum duty period by one hour to 21 hours for those operations.

The Global 7500 has a 7,700 nautical mile range and the Global 8000 pushes that to 8,000 nautical miles, routes that routinely exceed the current aloft limit. NetJets has been converting its 19 Global 7500s to the 8000 configuration, expanding the fleet's range capability in the process. To commercially operate those aircraft to the spec sheet's potential, they need the regulatory room to do it.

The petition has drawn pushback. The Private Aviation Safety Alliance filed comments opposing it, arguing the FAA should not alter fatigue-related guardrails for a single operator through an individualized exemption, and that if there's merit to reconsidering the limits for ultra-long-range Part 135 operations, the FAA should do so through a broader rulemaking process available to all certificate holders.

Comments from NetJets crew members on the docket are also pointed. One Global 7500 crew member wrote that the existing crew rest facilities are "not good enough for these kinds of flights," citing the galley door, thin mattress pads, and cabin noise as disruptive to rest. Another suggested the petition is primarily cost-driven rather than operationally necessary.

The FAA has not responded. Public comments can be submitted through regulations.gov, docket FAA-2026-3840, through July 2. As the largest fractional operator, NetJets' request will serve as a reference point for the rest of the ultra-long-range Part 135 market, regardless of the outcome.

Legal: AeroVanti Founder Convicted on Six Counts of Wire Fraud

On June 3, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Patrick Britton-Harr, 43, of Annapolis, on six counts of wire fraud in connection with a $15 million fraud scheme operated through AeroVanti, the private jet membership company he founded in 2021.

AeroVanti sold what it called Top Gun memberships at $150,000 per seat, promising buyers that their funds would be used to purchase specific aircraft, with titles held in escrow. Roughly 100 members collectively paid approximately $15 million to finance the purchase of five aircraft. The aircraft were never purchased. According to evidence presented at trial, Britton-Harr used the funds to buy yachts and jewelry, cover living expenses, and rent a $10,000-per-month home near Tampa. He then attempted to conceal the fraud by obtaining a $1.5 million loan to purchase one of the aircraft he had already claimed to have bought with member funds.

Britton-Harr faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. Sentencing is scheduled for August 26, 2026. A separate federal trial on five counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering tied to an alleged Medicare billing scheme through his company Provista Health is scheduled for October 2026. Prosecutors allege he used proceeds from that scheme to help fund AeroVanti.

AeroVanti is not the only actor in this story with legal exposure. Scott Hopes, who joined as CEO in 2023, faces separate criminal charges in Florida tied to his prior tenure as Manatee County administrator. Britton-Harr's brother Todd ran the company briefly and carries a prior Florida mortgage fraud conviction.

The AeroVanti model was built on trust: members paid in advance, relied on the company to buy and manage aircraft, and had no direct control over how their funds were used. The model runs legitimately at multiple subscription aviation operators. At AeroVanti, the trust was placed with someone running the business as a personal cash source.

U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes: "Consumers who invest in aviation services deserve honesty and transparency, not deception."

Finance: Global Jet Capital Closes $659 Million Securitization

On June 16, Global Jet Capital closed BJETS 2026-1, its ninth asset-backed securities offering, raising approximately $659 million from 41 investors, 12 of them new to the BJETS program. The transaction covers 28 leases and loans across 16 aircraft models in 20 industries, weighted toward mid- to large-cabin business jets.

The deal was structured in three tranches: a $561.39 million Class A, a $56.95 million Class B, and a $40.68 million Class C, rated A/A, BBB+/BBB, and BB/BB respectively by S&P and Kroll. Morgan Stanley was lead structuring agent and bookrunner, with Deutsche Bank, BofA, Citigroup, KKR Capital Markets, and TCG as joint agents.

BJETS 2026-1 brings Global Jet Capital's total securitized assets to approximately $6.7 billion and total bonds issued to approximately $5.4 billion.

Institutional capital continues to regard the business jet asset class as a sound credit. A $659 million securitization closing oversubscribed with 12 new investors in a week when large-cabin activity is running below the broader market puts the financing side and the operational side pointing in different directions. The demand-side data through year-end will tell operators which one to follow.

Fuel: Prices Moving, Deal Wobbling

As of June 21, the national Jet-A average across 3,209 reporting FBOs sits at $7.71 per gallon, down from $7.80 the prior week and the lowest since early March. The June monthly average per ARGUS came in at $8.18 per gallon, down 39 cents from May's $8.57 and up $1.76 year-over-year. The Central region is lowest at $6.78. Alaska is highest at $9.09. The Western Pacific region was the most expensive in June at $9.11, while the Central region averaged $7.14.

At the wholesale level, the global average jet fuel price fell 5.1% week-over-week to $138.86 per barrel, the first sustained multi-week wholesale decline since the Hormuz disruption began in late February. Wholesale typically leads retail by several weeks, so if the decline holds, operators should see it at the FBO pump through early July.

On the Iran situation: the U.S. and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 14 calling for hostilities to end on all fronts and for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. A formal signing ceremony in Switzerland scheduled for June 19 was postponed after Israel, which was not a party to the MOU, continued striking Hezbollah in Lebanon. A partial Hormuz reopening is in effect during a 60-day negotiation window, with ships transiting on 48-hour notice. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect Friday, though it remains fragile. Whether the 60-day window produces a durable agreement is genuinely uncertain.

Build summer fuel budgets with a range, not a single assumption.

Traffic and Weather

North American bizav activity continues to track positive year-over-year through the World Cup group stage. The large-cabin segment remains the category running below the broader market, consistent with the trend reported in prior weeks.

The eastern half of the country is in its standard early-summer pattern heading into next week: afternoon and evening convective activity along the Gulf Coast and Southeast, with heat building across the central U.S. and the Plains corridor seeing standard summer convection cycles. The Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies have a system building for midweek. The West otherwise remains in good shape.

World Cup match days are the operational planning variable for the next three weeks before the knockout rounds begin. Host-city airports are running PPR requirements and elevated FBO surcharges. The group stage schedule is set. If you have clients attending matches, the routing and slot picture is not getting easier as the tournament progresses.

That's The Brief

Joshua Baer's family and the Capital Factory community deserve privacy and time. The investigation will produce a preliminary report in roughly two weeks. The Falcon 10X is in flight test. The NetJets duty petition comment window closes July 2. The AeroVanti conviction is a data point worth having when advising clients on subscription aviation. And fuel is finally moving in the right direction.

The Week in One Sentence: A NetJets Citation Latitude crashed on Loop 20 in Laredo after reporting low fuel and a power outage on a San José del Cabo-to-Austin flight, killing Capital Factory founder Joshua Baer in what appears to be the first fatal accident in fractional aviation history, the Dassault Falcon 10X completed its maiden flight at Mach 0.82, AeroVanti's founder was convicted on six wire fraud counts for a $15 million membership scheme, Global Jet Capital raised $659 million in a business jet securitization, and Jet-A dropped to $7.71 nationally as wholesale prices fell 5.1% following the Iran deal signing.