A United Airlines aircraft struck a streetlight and a tractor-trailer while landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday, injuring the truck driver, according to New Jersey State Police.
The Boeing 767, operating a flight from Venice, was traveling at more than 160 miles per hour as it crossed above the New Jersey Turnpike just outside the airport, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
Preliminary findings indicate that a tire from the aircraft’s landing gear and part of its underside struck a pole and a tractor-trailer.
The pole then hit a nearby Jeep, said State Police spokesman SFC Charles Marchan.
The truck driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Dashcam footage from the truck showed the vehicle traveling along the highway as the sound of the approaching aircraft intensified. Moments later, the plane’s landing gear hit the truck, shaking it and sending glass fragments into the air.
The driver, identified as Warren Boardley of Baltimore, was en route to deliver bread products to an airport depot when the incident occurred. He suffered cuts to his arm from shattered glass but did not sustain serious injuries and was able to pull over safely. He was expected to be released from the hospital later that evening.
Witnesses described the aircraft approaching directly toward the truck, with debris and smoke visible at the moment of impact.
United Airlines Flight 169 was carrying more than 200 passengers and 10 crew members. The airline said the aircraft landed safely and taxied to the gate without injuries to those on board.
“Our maintenance team is evaluating damage to the aircraft,” the airline said, adding that a full safety investigation would be conducted and the crew had been removed from duty as part of standard procedures.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would send an investigator to the scene and analyze the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.
Runway 29, where the aircraft landed, begins less than 400 feet from the New Jersey Turnpike. While not always in use, it handles landings when wind conditions permit, bringing aircraft low over the busy highway.
Recordings from LiveATC.net suggest that neither the pilots nor air traffic control initially realized the plane had struck the light pole, as the aircraft was instructed to taxi to the gate while other flights continued landing on the same runway.
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