Harrowing moment United flight hits light pole and truck while landing at Newark Airport
Shocking new video showed the moment a United Airlines plane crashed into a utility pole and a trailer during its final approach to Newark Liberty International Airport.
The underside and tire of United Airlines Flight 169 struck a light pole and tractor trailer carrying goods from a bakery on the New Jersey Turnpike around 2 p.m. Sunday, according to a New Jersey State Police spokesman.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Boeing 767-400 landed safely and arrived from Venice, Italy.
There were 221 passengers and 10 crew members on board.
New video from the ordeal shows the passenger plane crashing into objects during its final descent, coming within inches of complete disaster.
Because it was so close to the ground, cars and other traffic were seen traveling at high speeds on the highway below the United plane.
The nail-biting clip showed that the landing took place on a relatively clear day with good visibility.
‘Our maintenance team is assessing the damage to the aircraft,’ a United spokesman said. ‘We will conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation into the incident and as part of the process our crew has been removed from service.’
New video shows the moment a United plane crashed into a utility pole and a truck while landing at Newark Airport on Sunday
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said no injuries were reported on the plane, but minor damage was observed on the plane.
Airport personnel inspected the runway for debris and normal operations quickly resumed, according to a spokesperson.
The Port Authority added that the truck driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was later released.
He was driving a truck for H&S Family Bakeries. The windshield of the truck was broken and there was a hole in the cab of the truck.
The mast also hit a jeep traveling on the park road after the plane crashed.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the incident.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said: ‘This is unacceptable. We have really well-trained pilots. This should never happen in America, and yet it happens, events like this, big and small, we look at a study and learn from them.’
The NTSB said it directed United Airlines to secure and provide both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder to support the investigation.
American airlines have encountered a harrowing number of close calls and near misses in recent years.
New video from the ordeal shows the passenger plane crashing into objects during its final descent, coming within inches of complete disaster
In April, a UPS cargo plane was forced to abort its landing in Louisville after a small plane crossed the runway on approach.
Air traffic controller ‘Skylab 25, stop!’ he shouted. To prevent another tragedy at Louisville International Airport, a major hub for UPS, board the small plane before ordering the UPS plane to quickly approach and perform a maneuver called a missed approach.
The Boeing 767, identified as UPS flight 1303, was en route from Atlanta when it was ordered to abort its landing.
And earlier this year, an American Airlines pilot was forced to ‘hit the brakes’ after coming within feet of a truck hitting him on the taxiway at a North Carolina airport.
The unidentified pilot was maneuvering his plane towards the runway at Charlotte Douglas International Airport when he suddenly had to stop the plane.
Two vehicles passed the aircraft, apparently unaware that Flight 1197’s taxi lights were on.
“They went right in front of us,” the male pilot told the air traffic controller. CBS News. ‘We almost hit them, I had to hit the brakes.’
He notified air traffic controller that they had begun moving before the car passed.
Several other aviation tragedies have resulted in death.
In March of this year, an Air Canada Express plane collided with a Port Authority fire truck on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing the pilot and co-pilot.
The airport was closed and dozens of passengers were injured.
Last January, a catastrophic mid-air collision occurred between an American Airlines plane and a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in D.C.
As the plane was about to land, two vehicles collided. All 67 people on both planes died in the accident.
