United flight collides with truck and light pole as it lands at Newark airport

A plane landing at Newark Liberty International Airport crashed into a street lamp and a tractor trailer on a nearby highway Sunday, injuring the truck’s driver, according to New Jersey State Police.

The United Airlines Boeing 767 flying from Venice, Italy, was traveling more than 260 mph when it crossed over the New Jersey Turnpike just outside the airport, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24.

New Jersey State Police spokesman SFC Charles Marchan said in a statement that a preliminary investigation showed that a tire on the plane’s landing gear and the underside of the plane “hit a pole and a tractor trailer. The pole then hit a Jeep.” “The driver of the tractor trailer suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to an area hospital.”

In the video reflected on the front camera of the truck, the driver is seen moving along the road as the sound of the plane’s engine increases. Suddenly, the plane’s landing gear tires hit the truck, shaking it and sending shards of glass flying into the air.

Chuck Paterakis, senior vice president of transportation for Schmidt Bakery and co-owner of H&S Family of Bakeries, told CNN that truck driver Warren Boardley of Baltimore was heading north on the turnpike to deliver bread products to the Newark airport warehouse when the incident occurred.

Boardley suffered cuts to his arm from the broken glass, but suffered no serious injuries and was able to pull over safely, according to Paterakis. He added that Boardley is expected to be released from hospital tonight and Sunday.

Patrick Oyulu was driving on the highway when he saw the low-flying plane and felt a strong wind passing over him.

“He was coming right in front of the truck… I just saw smoke and debris,” he told CNN. “I think (the truck) was trying to evade and maneuver out of the way, but they were cornered.”

United Airlines Flight 169 was carrying more than 200 passengers and 10 crew members, the airline said.

“The aircraft landed safely, proceeded normally to the gate, and no passengers or crew were injured,” United said in a statement. “Our maintenance team is assessing the damage to the aircraft.”

“We will conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation into the incident, and as part of the process, our crew has been removed from service,” United said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigator to Newark and will analyze the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder as part of the investigation. the agency announced.

Runway 29, where the plane landed, begins less than 400 feet from the edge of the busy New Jersey Turnpike. It is not always used, but numerous landings can be seen when wind conditions are favourable; This can startle drivers when planes pass at low altitudes on the highway.

The pilots and air traffic control did not appear to be aware that the plane hit the light pole during landing, according to air traffic control communications records. LiveATC.net.

The 767 was instructed to taxi to the gate while other aircraft continued to land on the same runway.

This story has been updated.

CNN’s Amanda Musa, Jim Rogers and Sneha Dhandapani contributed to this report.

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